About

This website was created in fulfillment of requirements for CS H195: Honors Social Implications of Computer Technology. It was designed as a resource hub for students at UC Berkeley to reflect upon the “Asian American” identity within the context of computer science education and the workplace.

Goals for CS H195 (as defined by Spring 2023 course staff):

• Build further on the CS 195 goals (“make informed and thoughtful choices about your careers, participation in society, and future development activities”).
• Develop your “cultural competency” (awareness of social science topics such as identity, intersectionality, racism, bias, and discrimination; and how they affect both computing, technologies, and society).
• Create activities and discussions that you are invested in.

Project Vision

Diversity has long been a major issue in the technology industry, and the same issue is reflected in universities. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs are historically marred by white supremacy, patriarchy, and heteronormativity. Yet, there is another, more recent phenomenon: the overrepresentation of Asians in STEM (CS in particular).

As a Vietnamese American, I find this phenomenon to be personally relevant and believe that it warrants further exploration. According to the UC Berkeley Office of Planning and Analysis (OPA), 80% of Asian students are enrolled in a STEM field. They comprise 46% of all students in STEM, compared to only 28% of students not in STEM. Furthermore, 56% of students studying Computer & Information Sciences are Asian — far more than any other defined ethnic group. In contrast, Computer & Information Sciences has the lowest percentage of underrepresented minority students, about 7%. The fact that Asian students are a significant plurality, and in some cases, a majority, of these programs results in a complex situation. On one hand, many would argue that Asian Americans still feel like a minority. Despite being present in larger proportions within education and the workplace, especially relative to Black or Hispanic groups, it would be reductive to say that they experience the same environment and privileges as White people. On the other hand, however, it is often argued that Asian Americans benefit from white adjacency.

Through my time at Berkeley, I’ve grown more cognizant of the dynamics outlined above and their implications on my own identity. Within EECS, however, I find that race is rarely discussed. My project seeks to promote discussion regarding the Asian American identity as it relates to computing by establishing a website for readings, videos, resources, and guided activities. The website is intended to raise awareness of salient concepts such as white adjacency, the model minority myth, tech culture, and corporate “diversity.” While the target audience of the website is largely Asian American EECS/CS students at Berkeley, many of the resources will be relevant to the broader EECS/CS community.

The goal is not to educate or raise conversations about a specific technology and its social implications, but rather to encourage students to think about the cultural dimensions of tech education and the tech industry. Furthermore, the website will also provide resources to student organization leaders, with the hope of improving the exclusive and apolitical environment that is currently prevalent among engineering and CS organizations. The insular and predominantly Asian communities of these organizations are often (justifiably) criticized for their monolithic culture that excludes underrepresented minorities. Finally, I would like to include the voices of other EECS/CS students on the website through opinion pieces and interviews.

Open Questions

When discussing anything related to race, ethnicity, and identity, a high level of care is required in defining key terms and concepts. The Asian American identity is especially complex. UC Berkeley AAADS describes Asian American as a “pan-ethnic term designating a racialized population made up of various groups of Asian ancestry, and encompassing both the foreign-born and the US-born.” The term has a complex history, and its broadness invites discussions regarding which groups are actually included by the term.

It will be important to make clear that Asian Americans encompass a very wide and diverse set of cultures, each with different historical contexts and experiences. Given that this ethnic category has the greatest income inequality in the US, discussions about the Asian American experience must be nuanced. Furthermore, South and Central Asians are sometimes categorized as Asian Americans, and sometimes as a separate identity. In addition, the difference between Asian and Asian American is blurry. While the former is obviously broader, many Asians who were born in or immigrated to the US may not identify as Asian American. Similarly, although the website is mainly targeted toward Asian Americans, international students also make up a large fraction of EECS/CS enrollment, and a majority are from East Asia and the Pacific.