Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander
Updated: Jul 9
My research on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students works to disaggregate a population too often treated as monolithic, surfacing disparities in achievement, opportunity, and experience that aggregate data obscure. A central contribution of this work is conceptual and empirical groundwork: in a systematic review of the literature, my colleagues and I interrogate the "model minority" framing and document how the field has—and has not—studied Asian American and Pacific Islander students (Lee, Mao, & Choi, 2025). A second strand advances data justice for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students specifically, a group rendered nearly invisible in most educational datasets, arguing for disaggregated data practices that make their experiences and needs visible to researchers and policymakers (Lee, Mao, & Liang, 2026).
Supported by a Spencer Foundation Small Research Grant, this line of inquiry is expanding rapidly. Ongoing and forthcoming projects extend the disaggregation agenda to questions of course access, achievement, and participation across AANHPI subgroups—examining not just whether disparities exist, but where and for whom. As the AANHPI student population continues to grow and diversify, I see this as an increasingly urgent area of research, and one I intend to build out substantially in the coming years.
