Educational Disparities and Decolonizing the Curriculum

Education and our experiences within the system often shape how we grow to be as students, people, and members of communities. It not only affects how we view ourselves, but how we navigate the world around us and care for each other. When education fails to serve its purposes of leading us to our highest potential and teaching us how to critically think and interact with our culture, what does that mean for us, and in the APISAA community specifically?

APISAA Educational Experiences 

The educational experiences of Asian Pacific Islander South Asian American (APISAA) communities have often been shaped by systemic disparities rooted in racial stereotypes and exclusionary policies. A stereotype that has often followed APISAA individuals and reinforced these disparities is the societal belief that equates Asian American success with proficiency in math and science fields (Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2024). While this stereotype seems to uplift Asian Americans, it actually erases the diverse realities of low-income and underrepresented APISAA subgroups that face significant educational inequities. Additionally, the Bamboo Ceiling phenomenon, similar to the Glass Ceiling problem faced by women and other marginalized groups, contributes to Asian American individuals being overlooked in academic and workforce environments. The Bamboo Ceiling phenomenon is a term coined to describe how many Asian Americans struggle to advance into leadership positions in academic and corporate industries despite their proficiency in the fields (Insight into Diversity, 2024). Despite their qualifications, they are frequently overlooked for executive roles due to biases that frame them as competent workers rather than authoritarian leaders. This stereotype is rooted in both cultural perceptions and exclusion throughout history of APISAA individuals from leadership pathways. Many Asian cultures emphasize humility, deference to authority, and collective success, which contrasts with Western leadership ideals that prioritize self-promotion and dominance (Insight Into Diversity, 2024). Systemic barriers such as a lack mentorship opportunities, exclusion from informal leadership networks and biases in promotion processes serve to reinforce the notion that Asian AMericans excel in their roles but lack the assertiveness or vision required for leadership positions (Brookings Institution, 2025). These stereotypes restrict APISAA individuals from achieving their full potential and instead perpetuate their invisibility in higher education and professional environments (Brookings Institution, 2025). 

In addition to structural barriers, Asian American students and educators often deal with the perpetual foreigner stereotype, which positions them as outsiders in their own country (Politico, 2025). Throughout history, Asian Americans have been scapegoated during periods of political and cultural tension. This can be seen in the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII, all the way to the treatment of Chinese Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic (The Guardian, 2025). This dynamic extends into the classroom, where APISAA histories and perspectives are frequently omitted while reinforcing a European History centered curriculum that fails to acknowledge the contributions of Asian Americans. Decolonizing the curriculum requires dismantling these exclusionary narratives and incorporating APISAA voices in history, literature, and social science courses. In order to create a system that values all students’ experiences rather than upholding stereotypes that restrict marginalized communities, there needs to be a change in education and more representation in leadership positions (Inside Higher Ed, 2024).  

APISAA Voices in Academia 

Given such disparities that have set up the educational atmosphere for APISAA, there is an extreme underrepresentation of APISAA individuals in leadership roles within research environments as well as academia. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has a workforce that is nearly 20% Asian American, yet only 6% of those individuals occupy senior leadership roles. Additionally, legal actions have highlighted potential biases against Asian American applicants when it comes to both undergraduate and graduate admission to programs. The University of California is facing a lawsuit accusing them of favoritism towards other groups over Asian American candidates. Within academic medicine specifically, Asian Americans are underrepresented in senior faculty positions within U.S. medical schools. Despite being the second-largest racial group among medical students, they hold only 9% of female and 11% of male department chair positions. All areas of research and academia affect APISAA communities, just as they affect every other marginalized group as well, so representation within these areas of studies–that is, representation among what is being researched and also representation among researchers and academics themselves–is crucial to ensuring more comprehensive education is being shared with the public.  

Although barriers are still prominent, there have also been successful advances towards better APISAA representation in academia that are important to highlight alongside bringing awareness to our struggles. There have been bills passed in some states advocating for APISAA ethnic studies and interests, such as Oregon. In 2023, Oregon passed the Pacific Islander Student Success Act, requiring the state to invest resources into supporting Pacific Islander students and focusing on Pacific Islander-specific issues, such as high absenteeism and hiring more Pacific Islander teachers. More locally, here at UVA, there was a symposium, titled “We Are Not Invisible: A Case for Ethnic Studies”, hosted in 2019 with the Asian Leaders Council and the Latinx Student Alliance. Students, faculty, and advisors were able to come together and discuss how to establish an ethnic studies program at UVA. This ethnic studies symposium highlighted APISAA voices and concerns, as well as Latinx and other marginalized communities’ voices in academia. APISAA voices are still present in academia and have persisted despite obstacles.  

Current Threats to Public U.S. Education & Impacts on APISAA Communities 

The current Trump administration, since getting into office in January of 2025, has made several moves to start dismantling the Department of Education as well as DEI initiatives. In February of 2025, the Department of Education terminated 89 research contracts (~$881 million total), 29 of which are related to DEI training programs. The administration’s plans also specifically target low-income, racially diverse, and disabled students. Federal agencies have also been removing key information regarding DEI from government websites. Such initiatives made by the administration work to undermine the foundations on which marginalized community members have made to build a more equitable educational future for marginalized folx in our country.  

Without the Department of Education and without initiatives advocating for DEI, federal support for APISAA representation in education decreases. Without this institutional support, it will be more difficult for APISAA individuals to pursue higher education. A lack of representation within education relates to a lack of informed details about APISAA communities and their needs, which includes a lack of representation among faculty, students, and the curriculum. The absence of APISAA representation in curricula means that critical histories, struggles, and contributions remain overlooked, reinforcing stereotypes while preventing all students from gaining a comprehensive understanding of APISAA identities and experiences.  

Decolonizing the Curriculum 

The instability of the federal institutions and systems that were supposedly working towards benefiting marginalized communities should make us all question how we can work together to build a more sustainable future for all of us in regard to education. Focusing on decolonizing our current curricula, standards, and systems will give room for us to reimagine what higher educational institutions can look like for more radical futures. The history of APISAA education has always had radical origins; the Third World Liberation Front Coalition, formed in 1969 at UC Berkeley in solidarity with the San Francisco State University strikes, included multiethnic student groups on campus, including the Asian American Political Alliance. The Coalition recognized the connections between education and community mobilization. As the UC Berkley’s Third World Liberation Front website states, “Students demanded the establishment of a Third World College, aiming to restructure academic programs to include and emphasize the histories, struggles, and contributions of Black, Indigenous, Asian, and Latinx communities, ensuring an educational environment that accurately reflects the realities of all students and empowers their communities.”   

We must work with each other to reclaim marginalized knowledge and challenge underlying assumptions & power relations. As Kandice Chuh writes in “The Difference Aesthetics Makes”, “[t]he interests of the academy, the marketplace, and the state grow increasingly one and the same.” We must think beyond traditional academia and Eurocentric standards of learning; even public universities function similarly to a modern-day corporation, with the end goal of creating more capital for the individual. Although creating more equitable educational spaces remains important, in what ways can we learn and support one another outside the reliance of these institutions that ultimately were not created with our needs in mind? 

Since 2020, Teachers College at Columbia University has created and built the Black and Asian Solidarity Committee, a place for “educators, community leaders, school administrators, and scholars from across the U.S.” to come together and “teach historical solidarity”. Many institutions of higher education do not offer comprehensive education and spaces for building solidarity between marginalized communities, so it is often left up to community members to create such spaces, as relying on institutions has not gotten marginalized folx as far as they would like. Although not entirely separate from an institution of higher education, the Black and Asian Solidarity Committee is still an example of how we can work together as marginalized community members to create long-lasting relationships and connections that are not limited by academia in its current state. 

The ethnic studies symposium in 2019 at UVA was also a great example of building coalitions with other communities and coming together despite the barriers that the current academic climate and culture pose against us. Currently, student leaders from different organizations are working towards putting together another symposium, aimed at highlighting the importance of ethnic studies at UVA and advocating for its expansion in the curricula. The work towards closing the gaps within educational disparities and the curriculum is far from over, but it is imperative that we continue fighting for a better world for each other and those who come after us.   

Sources: 

Brookings Institution. “The Push to Eliminate DEI in Higher Education: What It Means for Students and Faculty.” Brookings, 2025, https://www.brookings.edu. 

Insight Into Diversity. “Despite Increased Visibility, Asian Americans Continue to Face Barriers in Academia.” Insight Into Diversity, 2024, https://www.insightintodiversity.com/despite-increased-visibility-asian-americans-continue-to-face-barriers-in-academia/. 

Journal of Philosophy of Education. “Decolonizing the Curriculum: Philosophical Perspectives—An Introduction.” Oxford Academic, 2024, https://academic.oup.com/jope/article/58/2-3/155/7687011. 

NYU Steinhardt. “Study Shows How Higher Education Supports Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Students Through Culturally Relevant Courses, Programs, and Research.” NYU Steinhardt, 2024, https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/news/study-shows-how-higher-education-supports-asian-american-native-hawaiian-and-pacific-islander. 

Politico. “Education Department Pauses Research Contracts and Cuts DEI Training Grants.” Politico, 10 Feb. 2025, https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/10/education-department-pauses-research-contracts-00203494. 

The Guardian. “Trump’s Plans to Axe US Education Department Put Marginalized Students Most at Risk, Experts Warn.” The Guardian, 21 Jan. 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/21/trump-education-department. 

Times Higher Education. “Decolonising the Curriculum – How Do I Get Started?” Times Higher Education, 2024, https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/decolonising-curriculum-how-do-i-get-started. 

Wisconsin Center for Education Research. STEM Asianization and the Racialization of the Educational Experiences of Asian American College Students. Wisconsin Center for Education Research, 2024, https://wcer.wisc.edu/docs/working-papers/WCER_Working_Paper_No.2024-2.pdf.  

UC Berkley. “The Third World Liberation Front.” UC Berkley. https://twlf.berkeley.edu/history