During the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian/Pacific Islander professional experienced discrimination in the workplace.
Recently, USA Today reported that more than one in three Asian/Pacific Islander professionals experienced racism at work, citing a survey by the nonprofit advisory group “Coquel.”
According to the survey called Strangers at Home (The Asian and Asian American Professional Experience), many Asian/Pacific Islander professionals feel anxious and uneasy due to microaggressions that exists in the workplace.
Nearly two-thirds say the ongoing violence against their communities has negatively affected their mental health and nearly half say it has negatively affected their physical health, according to the survey report.
In particular, about 50% of the respondents said “racially motivated hate has made it difficult to focus at work.”. Sixty-two percent said they felt that commuting to work was not safe, but few employers allowed working from home.
The racism experienced by Asian/Pacific Islander professionals were similar, with 37% in East Asia, 38% in West Asia, and 32% in Southeast Asia. A total of 2,637 people responded to the survey.
In addition to direct racism, they are also treated like “perpetual foreigners” in the workplace. In other words, even if Asian/Pacific Islander professionals were born in the States, their colleagues still see them as immigrants due to prejudice.
For example, co-workers often ask them, “Where are you really from?” Or, make subtle racist remarks by saying, “Your English is really good.”
However, only about one in four Asian/Pacific Islander professionals feel that their company is very vocal on the issue of violence against the community.
Coqual conducted interviews and surveys of 2,634 Asian and Pacific Islander professionals.
BY KIM HYUNG-JAE [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
