Asian American, Native Hawaiian, And Pacific Islander Population Group Representation In The US Health Workforce

Although the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) population encompasses more than 50 ethnicities and 100 languages, it is often treated as a monolith in research and policy. Despite substantial heterogeneity, policy makers and researchers do not usually focus on AANHPI subgroups when discussing underrepresentation and health disparities. We provide insights on the representation of AANHPI populations by disaggregating the AANHPI racial category among the health workforce and examining the representation of AANHPI subgroups in health occupations. These data indicate that although the AANHPI population is well represented as a collective population, there are population groups that are underrepresented, including the other Southeast Asian and NHPI populations in general. There is also considerable underrepresentation of AANHPI populations in the behavioral health workforce. Policy and research addressing underrepresentation and gaps in health care, which usually do not focus on the "Asian" racial population groups, should disaggregate AANHPI population groups.