Inclusions and exclusions: racial categorizations and panethnicities in higher education

Representation of Asian American Populations in Medical School Curricula

“…9 Although aggregation of Asian American populations by panethnic terms could be a powerful signature of political alliance as seen during the US Civil Rights movement, it can also lead to imprecise statistics and racial and ethnic erasure without proper intentionality and framework. 28,30 Gogue et al 30 Islander populations are at a higher risk than other Asian American groups for COVID-19 mortality 31 and chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, owing to substantial health and socioeconomic disparities. 3,5 Considering the small size of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community, aggregation of this high-risk group into categories such as Asian or Asian American and Pacific Islander populations substantially underestimates disease burden in this community and impedes progress in mitigating health disparities.…”

“…33 In addition, the relative lack of mentions of Asian Indian populations further reflects the perspective centered on populations considered to be East Asian and marginalization of other minoritized Asian American subgroups often encompassed by the aggregated discussion of Asian American populations. 2,30 Aggregation in this way serves to foster clinicians' lack of knowledge of Asian American health and the risk of underdiagnosing disease. 34,35 Inconsistent terminology, present throughout the curricula, increases the risk for extrapolation-generalizing the findings derived from an Asian American subgroup to a broader category.…”

“…Although aggregation of Asian American populations by panethnic terms could be a powerful signature of political alliance as seen during the US Civil Rights movement, it can also lead to imprecise statistics and racial and ethnic erasure without proper intentionality and framework . Gogue et al describe the disappointment and trauma some Pacific Islander populations feel in spaces for Asian and Pacific Islander populations that are not inclusive of the experiences of Pacific Islander populations.…”

“…Although aggregation of Asian American populations by panethnic terms could be a powerful signature of political alliance as seen during the US Civil Rights movement, it can also lead to imprecise statistics and racial and ethnic erasure without proper intentionality and framework . Gogue et al describe the disappointment and trauma some Pacific Islander populations feel in spaces for Asian and Pacific Islander populations that are not inclusive of the experiences of Pacific Islander populations. In addition, previous studies have shown that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations are at a higher risk than other Asian American groups for COVID-19 mortality and chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, owing to substantial health and socioeconomic disparities .…”

“…Moreover, the discussion of type 2 diabetes among Asian American populations in aggregate neglects the varying prevalence of type 2 diabetes within subgroups, which ranges from 12.6% among Asian Indian populations to 5.6% among Chinese populations . In addition, the relative lack of mentions of Asian Indian populations further reflects the perspective centered on populations considered to be East Asian and marginalization of other minoritized Asian American subgroups often encompassed by the aggregated discussion of Asian American populations . Aggregation in this way serves to foster clinicians’ lack of knowledge of Asian American health and the risk of underdiagnosing disease …”