Fourth-annual study reveals complex dynamics around racial identity among people of color in the workplace

AAPI Data, a leading national research and policy organization, and SurveyMonkey, a global leader in online surveys and forms, today announced findings from their fourth annual survey to gain insights about Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) attitudes and experiences in American workplaces and communities, particularly in contrast to other racial and ethnic groups. A lack of leadership representation and complicated dynamics around racial identity in the workplace are among the most pressing issues, while Asian and Black people remain most optimistic about growth in media representation and demonstrate the highest approval rating for President Joe Biden.

Asians, American Indians, or Alaskan Natives (AIAN), and Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders (NHPI) are much more likely to identify as American than their racial group or heritage in a professional setting. But in personal settings, the script flips, suggesting potential barriers to identity expression in the workplace.

• At work, more than half (56%) of Asians view themselves as American. In addition, AIAN (68%) and NHPI (59%) are much more likely to identify as an American than their racial group or heritage at work.
• Yet among friends, 63% of Asians and 59% of NHPI Americans view themselves as a member of their race, ethnicity, or heritage.
• Among family, 73% of Asians and 66% of NHPI Americans view themselves as part of their race or heritage, compared with 35% and 42% that identify as American, respectively.

Asian workers feel a lack of leadership representation at work and continue to look to employee resource groups for support.

• One in four Asian (24%) workers say their employer is not doing enough to increase diversity and representation in leadership roles (compared to 17% of workers overall), followed by Black (23%), American Indian or Alaskan Native (18%), Hispanic (17%), NHPI (16%), and white workers (14%).
• Only a quarter (24%) of Asian workers ‘strongly agree’ that they have support to take leadership opportunities at work, lower than all other racial groups.
• Nearly one in five Asian or Asian American workers (17%) participate in an employee resource group (ERG) related to their racial or ethnic background—higher participation than that of other racial groups; however, only a slight majority of Asian workers (58%) report a positive impact from these groups on their workplace experience).

Asian Americans remain hesitant to report hate crimes, and nearly one-third feel less safe in public spaces compared to last year.

• Asian Americans continue to show heightened concern about safety and hate crimes, and they are less comfortable than other racial groups to report a hate crime to law enforcement authorities. Only 31% say they would be ‘very comfortable’ reporting a hate crime, compared with 42% of American Indian or Alaskan Natives, 48% of Black or African Americans, 46% of Hispanics or Latinos, 40% of Native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders, and 52% of white Americans.
• Four in ten (42%) Americans feel less safe in public compared to last year. Nearly half of white Americans (47%) and American Indian or Alaska Native Americans (44%) report feeling less safe in public, followed by Asian or Asian Americans (33%), Black or African Americans (31%), and Hispanics or Latinos (35%).

Racial slurs are the most common form of discrimination against people of color, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders experience the highest rates of such incidents.

• One in five (21%) Americans of color report being called an ethnic or racial slur within the last year, more than twice the number of white Americans (9%). Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders experience the highest rates of such incidents (30%).
• NHPI Americans similarly experience other types of race-based incidents at higher rates than other racial groups, including threats of property damage or destruction (15%), actual property damage or destruction (12%), and cyberbullying (14%).
• American Indians or Alaskan Natives and multi-racial Americans remain most likely among all racial groups to be a victim of a hate crime; three in ten (29%) report that they or their property have ever experienced physical assault or threats of physical assault, compared with 17% of Americans overall.

“As the fastest-growing segments of the population and electorate, our voices as Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders carry significant weight and influence. While we celebrate strides in public visibility and media representation, these data illuminate the need to uplift AANHPIs and other communities of color in the realms of professional leadership and workplace climate, community recognition, and public safety,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data. “We value our partnership with SurveyMonkey to help amplify data-informed insights and critical perspectives that can help all of us drive toward enduring and long-lasting impacts for our diverse communities.”

“The issues we face as a nation are constantly evolving, and these insights provide a critical, common foundation for individuals and communities to come together and evolve alongside them,” said Sam Gutierrez, Senior Research Scientist at SurveyMonkey. “We always look forward to collaborating with AAPI Data to uncover how members of the AANHPI community and other people of color truly think and feel—in their workplaces, communities, local neighborhoods, and homes—to increase our collective understanding and help the organizations dedicated to supporting them take action with purpose and make decisions with speed and confidence.”

Complete results of the survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/aapi-data-2024/?utm_source=AAPI_2024.

Methodology

This SurveyMonkey poll was conducted online April 22-28, 2024, among a total sample of 22,891 adults ages 18 and over, including self-identified 2,303 Asian or Asian Americans and 221 Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders living in the United States. Respondents for these surveys were selected from more than two million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. SurveyMonkey used a third-party panel provider to obtain additional sample with quotas for Asian and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander respondents. The modeled error estimate for the full sample is plus or minus 1.0 and for the following subgroups: +/- 3.0 percentage points for Asian or Asian American, and +/- 6.0 for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, citizenship status, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over.

About SurveyMonkey

SurveyMonkey is a global leader in online surveys and forms that empowers people with the insights they need to make decisions with speed and confidence. Our fast, intuitive feedback management platform connects millions of users worldwide with real-time AI-powered insights that drive meaningful decisions. We provide answers to more than 20 million questions every day so that people and organizations can attract new audiences, delight customers, create advocates, and extend their competitive advantage in the marketplace. Our vision is to raise the bar for human experiences by amplifying individual voices. Learn more at surveymonkey.com.

About AAPI Data

AAPI Data is a national research and policy organization producing accurate data to support community narratives that drive action toward enduring solutions for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities. Learn more at aapidata.com.

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