If Trends Continue: Is there an End in Sight for the Underrepresentation of Pacific Islanders?

Happy New Year!

In the last post, I presented U.S. Census data on Pacific Islander underrepresentation from the past twenty years. As promised, in this post I'm expanding on what those numbers say. The question I'm going to answer is "what has the trend been for the past two decades in terms of Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander college graduation?" The overall message is clear, but there are also what my dad would call "glass half-full and half-empty" ways of looking at the data.

Overall
The clear finding is that for at least the past twenty years, U.S. Census data has consistently shown that Pacific Islanders are underrepresented among college graduates.

Glass Half-Full
While Pacific Islanders continue to be underrepresented, the good news is that the percentage of us graduating is rising. Between 1990 and the data the Census used in 2010 publications, the percentage of Pacific Islanders with college diplomas increased from about 11 percent to 15 percent. That's an increase of about 36 percent. Pacific Islander scholars, community advocates and leaders, and others should be proud of this progress, especially since it has been achieved without access to most scholarships, fellowships, and other academic programs for underrepresented minorities.

Glass Half-Empty
You might wonder: if this increase in graduation rates continues, will Pacific Islanders no longer be underrepresented in the near future? Sadly, the numbers say absolutely not.

During the same time period that Census data showed a 36 percent increase in Pacific Islander college graduation, the overall U.S. population's graduation rate increased by about 40 percent. Pacific Islander graduation rates have risen, but not as fast as the overall population. Here's another way to look at it:

Census data says that in 1990, Pacific Islanders were 45 percent less likely to have a college degree than the general U.S. population.

According to Census data published in 2010, Pacific Islanders are 46 percent less likely to have a college degree than the general U.S. population.

That means that Pacific Islanders are almost exactly as underrepresented among college graduates now as they were 20 years ago. A continuation of this trend would be permanent underrepresentation in higher education.

If we are going break this trend, we will need find smarter, better ways to help Pacific Islanders succeed. One way to help Pacific Islanders in the next twenty years is to allow them to have access to the same resources as other underrepresented minorities - the scholarships, fellowships, and other academic programs for underrepresented minorities.


Kawika