University Honors

Asian Americans in the United States are underrepresented in both politics and public administration. One of the reasons could be the type of education that Asian Americans obtain leading them to a political career. In fact, nearly all members of Congress have a bachelor's degree, coming in with 94% of representatives; most also have a graduate degree, with 64% of the elected officials holding one. Furthermore, the most common subjects that legislators study are political science, history, and economics in their undergraduate degrees. This shows that there is a ìtypicalî career pathway in order to work in politics or become a policymaker through public administration. I hypothesize that the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in politics is due to lower enrollment rates in typical pathway majors/degree programs that lead to careers in politics and public administration. These lower enrollment rates are an individual-level explanation of lower political participation, which is possibly affected by familial influence. By looking at the connections between the traditional educational pathway to becoming involved in politics, the underrepresentation of the Asian American community could be explained.