Disaggregate Asian and Pacific Islander Student Data

Spring
2022
Resolution Number
03.05
 
Contact
Assigned to
President
Data and Research Committee
Category
Diversity and Equity

Whereas, The Asian and Pacific Islander (API) population is more heterogeneous than any other racial group in the US, with more than 48 ethnicities, over 300 spoken languages, various socioeconomic statuses, immigration histories, cultures, and religions, and “Asian American” is a political term originally intended to unite Asian sub-groups in a unified fight for justice and equity, and the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) only publicly disaggregates API students into three ethnic groups—Asian, Filipino, and Pacific Islander [1] —and therefore misrepresents the needs of underserved API populations;

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges’ (ASCCC) Inclusivity Statement specifies a “goal of ensuring the equal educational opportunity of all students,” and a “commitment to diversity requires that we strive to eliminate those barriers to equity,” and a lack of access to disaggregated API student data is a barrier to informed, targeted resource allocation and equitable educational opportunities;

Whereas, Only 27% of South East Asian Americans (SEAA) hold a higher-education degree compared to 49% of Asian Americans, and therefore access to higher education disproportionately affects the 910,000 SEAA living in California, including Hmong, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Laotian communities, when compared to Asian Americans as a whole community [2]; and

Whereas, The CCCCO’s current grouping of API students does not allow for the identification of disproportionately impacted API student groups and therefore places SEAA and other unidentified disproportionately impacted API students at a disadvantage for resource allocation and decision-making purposes relating to initiatives such as AB 705 (Irwin, 2017), student equity, and guided pathways;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges collaborate with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to refine data disaggregation processes to increase transparency of and access to CCCCO data so colleges can better serve misrepresented student populations such as South East Asian Americans and other unidentified disproportionately impacted Asian and Pacific Islander groups;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges urge local academic senates to apply fully disaggregated data to allocate resources relating to equity initiatives and provide guidelines to make equitable decisions relating to students;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to develop guidelines for regularly reviewing and revising data practices to ensure students are correctly represented; and

Resolved, That Academic Senate for California Community Colleges work with local academic senates to implement best practices regarding regularly reviewing data to ensure that disproportionately impacted Asian and Pacific Islander students are identified.

ACCLAMATION


1. https://datamart.cccco.edu/Students/Education_Status_Summary.aspx
2. https://www.searac.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SEARAC_NationalSnapshot_PrinterFriendly.pdf