P.I.A. project cited in New America Media story on Pacific Islander academic struggles

While scrolling through my blog and news feed on Pacific Islander higher education issues, I was pleasantly surprised to read this article from New America Media regarding the academic struggles of America's growing Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander community.  That story, Often Ignored, Pacific Islanders Fight for Academic Success on Their Own, is available here: link

An excerpt: 

Hatori suggested that more awareness is needed of the specific issues confronting the Pacific Islander community. 

“Being grouped in with all Asians when using the term API (Asian Pacific Islander) in statistics to judge whether a particular race or ethnicity is doing well or not is often deceptive,” Hatori said. “People who are not very knowledgeable on the issues the Pacific Island community face will look at API numbers and think Pacific Islanders are not struggling at all,” he added. 

Such misconceptions are having horrid effects on Pacific Islanders’ prospects for scholarships, advocates argue, and therefore college access. Many scholarship programs decline applications by Pacific Islanders, mistakenly assuming those students are as privileged as their peers from other Asian backgrounds. 

When referencing Pacific Islander access to scholarships, the article links to the P.I.A. project's recent guest column in The Chronicle on Higher Education.

Mahalo to New America Media for highlighting the struggles and some of the successes of Pacific Islanders in America's academic arena.

Kawika