Panethnicity and Ethnic Heterogeneity: The Conceptual and Education Policy Consequences of Disaggregating Versus Uniting Asian American Pacific Islander Ethnicities

• In Event: Serving AAPI Students in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper assesses what is gained and what is lost through panethnic versus ethnic specific data collection and analysis. We argue that panethnicity and ethnic heterogeneity are not static binary choices, but instead reflect different modalities by which the lives, experiences, and identities of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) can be discerned for policy and practice. Both can work in concert to provide a fuller portrait of the diversity and complexity that exists among AAPIs in ways that highlight their unique positioning within broader patterns of racial stratification in the US. We advance a theoretical framework that allows us to intervene in current policy debates and evaluate the utility and policy consequences of using panethnic and ethnic specific data.

Authors

• Michael Omi, University of California - Berkeley

• Mike Hoa Nguyen, University of California - Los Angeles

• Jason Chan, University of California - Los Angeles