While Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are growing faster than any other racial group in the U.S., they are all but invisible in higher education, and generally ignored in the research literature, and thus greatly misrepresented and misunderstood.This book presents disaggregated data to unmask important academic achievement and other disparities within the population, and offers new insights that promote more authentic understandings of the realities masked by the designation of AAPI. In offering new perspectives, conceptual frameworks, and empirical research by seasoned and emerging scholars, this book both makes a significant contribution to the emerging knowledge base on AAPIs, and identifies new directions for future scholarship on this population. Its overarching purpose is to provide policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in higher education with the information they need to serve an increasingly important segment of their student populations.In dispelling such misconceptions as that Asian Americans are not really racial minorities, the book opens up the complexity of the racial and ethnic minorities within this group, and identifies the unique challenges that require the attention of anyone in higher education concerned with student access and success, as well as the pipeline to the professoriate.

The Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) population continues to obfuscate the discourse on diversity and higher education institutions. The historical and contemporary experiences of AAPIs in higher education clearly indicate that their presence has influenced and reinforced the importance of diversity in educational environments. To contextualize AAPIs’ participation in postsecondary education, this monograph provides: A historical overview of the “model minority” stereotype The affirmative action debate and AAPIs Their involvement in the education pipeline A discussion of their experiences in college. Implications for future research, practice, and policy are further discussed. Educators, administrators, faculty, policy makers, and researchers who are concerned with diversity issues and the AAPI population will find this monograph an engaging and valuable resource.

Between 2000 and 2015 the Asian American Pacific Islander population grew from nearly 12 million to over 20 million--at 72% percent recording the fastest growth rate of any major ethnic and racial group in the US.This book, the first to focus wholly on Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Institutions (AANAPISIs) and their students, offers a corrective to misconceptions about these populations and documents student services and leadership programs, innovative pedagogies, models of community engagement, and collaborations across academic and student affairs that have transformed student outcomes.The contributors stress the importance of disaggregating this population that is composed of over 40 ethnic groups that vary in immigrant histories, languages, religion, educational attainment levels, and socioeconomic status. This book recognizes there is a large population of underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander college students who, given their educational disparities, are in severe need of attention. The contributors describe effective practices that enable instructors to validate the array of students’ specific backgrounds and circumstances within the contexts of developing such skills as writing, leadership and cross-cultural communication for their class cohorts as a whole. They demonstrate that paying attention to the diversity of student experiences in the teaching environment enriches the learning for all. The timeliness of this volume is important because of the keen interest across the nation for creating equitable environments for our increasingly diverse students.This book serves as an important resource for predominantly white institutions who are admitting greater numbers of API and other underrepresented students. It also offers models for other minority serving institutions who face similar complexities of multiple national or ethnic groups within their populations, provides ideas and inspiration for the AANAPISI community, and guidance for institutions considering applying for AANAPISI status and funding. This book is for higher education administrators, faculty, researchers, student affairs practitioners, who can learn from AANAPISIs how to successfully engage and teach students with widely differing cultural backgrounds and educational circumstances.

Recent discussions and dissemination of information regarding the rapid growth of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) across our nation are creating some awareness among administrators and educators in higher education institutions regarding the extensive diversity of AAPIs, the struggles of some AAPI populations in pursuing and succeeding in higher education, and the lack of support for their educational success. National discourse on AAPIs among educators, policymakers and AAPI communities underscores the need for more research—including more relevant research—that can inform policy and practice that will enhance educational opportunities for AAPIs who are underserved in higher education. The book focuses on diverse topics, many of which do not appear in the current literature. The chapters are authored by an array of distinguished and emerging scholars and professionals at various universities and colleges across the nation. The authors, whose insights are invaluable in understanding the diverse issues and characteristics that affect the educational success of underserved AAPI students, and they represent the ethnicities and cultures of Cambodian, Chinese, Guamanian/Chamorro, Filipino, Hispanic, Hmong, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Native Hawaiian, Okinawan, Samoan, Vietnamese, and multiracial Americans. The authors not only integrate theoretical concepts, statistical analyses, and historical events, but they also merge theory and practice to advocate for social justice for AAPIs and other underrepresented and underserved ethnic minority groups in higher education.

Between 2000 and 2015 the Asian American Pacific Islander population grew from nearly 12 million to over 20 million--at 72% percent recording the fastest growth rate of any major ethnic and racial group in the US. This book, the first to focus wholly on Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Institutions (AANAPISIs) and their students, offers a corrective to misconceptions about these populations and documents student services and leadership programs, innovative pedagogies, models of community engagement, and collaborations across academic and student affairs that have transformed student outcomes. The contributors stress the importance of disaggregating this population that is composed of over 40 ethnic groups that vary in immigrant histories, languages, religion, educational attainment levels, and socioeconomic status. This book recognizes there is a large population of underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander college students who, given their educational disparities, are in severe need of attention. The contributors describe effective practices that enable instructors to validate the array of students' specific backgrounds and circumstances within the contexts of developing such skills as writing, leadership and cross-cultural communication for their class cohorts as a whole. They demonstrate that paying attention to the diversity of student experiences in the teaching environment enriches the learning for all. The timeliness of this volume is important because of the keen interest across the nation for creating equitable environments for our increasingly diverse students. This book serves as an important resource for predominantly white institutions who are admitting greater numbers of API and other underrepresented students. It also offers models for other minority serving institutions who face similar complexities of multiple national or ethnic groups within their populations, provides ideas and inspiration for the AANAPISI community, and guidance for institutions considering applying for AANAPISI status and funding. This book is for higher education administrators, faculty, researchers, student affairs practitioners, who can learn from AANAPISIs how to successfully engage and teach students with widely differing cultural backgrounds and educational circumstances.

Asian American Students in Higher Education offers the first comprehensive analysis and synthesis of existing theory and research related to Asian American students’ experiences in postsecondary education. Providing practical and insightful recommendations, this sourcebook covers a range of topics including critical historical and demographic contexts, the complexity of Asian American student identities, and factors that facilitate and hinder Asian American students’ success in college. The time has come for institutions of higher education to develop more holistic and authentic understandings of this significant and rapidly growing population, and this volume will help educators acquire deeper and more intricate knowledge of Asian American college students’ experiences. This resource is vital for college educators interested in better serving Asian American students in their institutions.