"In some geographic areas like Califorma, it is hard for Asians to be included as a minority because underrepresentation is, many times, a definition," Woolley says. But where Asian-Americans are underrepresented, in places like the South, Mid-Atlantic and Mid-West, it is easier to count them as a minority.

Woolley says Asian-American professionals are well-represented in the medical and business fields, and agreed that the medical community struggles to find doctors to serve inner-city and rural communities.

But, she says, "There needs to be encouragement of all minority groups, no matter the definition, so that these niches can be filled more easily by any race," she says.

Wooley says that if Asian-Americans are underrepresented in any professional field, it is law.

"For some law firms, it is just as difficult to recruit Asian-Americans as it is to recruit African-Americans," Woolley says. "The legal field has not had as much success with diversifying as other professions."

At Harvard Law School 11 percent of students are Asian-American, the same proportion as African American students.

At the college, Asian-American students have varying views about how they should be included under the minority label.

Laura S. Kang '99 says she sees nothing wrong with the AAMC's definition of minority. "If a minority is well-represented in a particular field, spending time and energy to recruit this minority...is a twisted manipulation of the term," she says.

"If Asian-Americans are not having trouble finding their way to the medical school application process, why try to recruit them?" Kang says. "[The time] could be spent serving other underrepresented minorities."

Some students find the umbrella term of "Asian-American" problematic itself. Grace C. Liu '00 says there is a misconception that Asian-American students are only Chinese, Japanese or Korean.

"Within the term 'Asian-American' there are many nationalities. There are very underrepresented groups like Vietnamese and Cambodian that get lost in the shuffle when people say that Asians aren't a minority," she says.

Liu says she believes that if any group is underrepresented in a field they should be considered a minority, but says that she recognizes that in certain fields this can be difficult.

Wendy M. Lu '00 is bothered by the inconsistent definition of Asian-American and minority. "I don't think definitions of minority should change based upon the institution. Asian-Americans should always be considered a minority," she says.

Asian-Americans at Harvard

Asian-Americans comprise 3.7% of the U.S. population and 14 percent of the University student body.

1995 Data. Source: Harvard Facts and Figures '95

1997 Data. Source: Harvard Medical School

Amelia E. Morrow