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Asian-American Women

Quick Takes

Published: December 2009

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Labor Force
  • In 2008:
    • Number of Asian-American women in the labor force: 3,350,0001
    • Percentage of labor force: 2.2%1
    • Percentage of Asian-American women who participated in the labor force: 59.4%1
    • Number of Asian-American women employed in management, professional, and related occupations: 1,485,000 (2.8% of all people employed in management, professional, and related occupations)2
  • In 1996:
    • Number of Asian-American women in the labor force: 2,662,0003
    • Percentage of labor force: 1.9% of labor force3
  • Projections for 2016:
    • Number of Asian-American women in the labor force: 4,141,0003
    • Percentage of labor force: 2.5%3
    • Increase of Asian-American women in the labor force between 1996 and 2016: 55.6%3
  • In 2009, women of color held 3.1% of board seats in the Fortune 500. Asian-American women held 10.8% of all Women of Color board directorships.4
Educational Achievement
  • Bachelor’s degrees in 2006-2007: 57,715 (3.8% of those getting bachelor’s) compared to 47,582 Asian men (3.1%).5
  • Master’s degrees in 2006-2007: 19,683 (3.3% of those getting master’s) compared to 16,451 Asian men (2.7%).5
  • Doctoral degrees in 2006-2007: 1,838 (3.0% of those getting PhDs) compared to 1,703 Asian men (2.8%).5
Income
  • In 2008, 43.2% of Asian-American women who worked full-time earned more than $50,000, and 22.0% had incomes of more than $75,000.6
  • In 2008, 70.6% of Asian-American married-couple families had incomes of $50,000 or more, and 54.2% had incomes of $75,000 or more.7
Buying Power
  • Asian-American buying power will increase from $117 billion in 1990 to $752.3 billion in 2013, an increase of 545.9% and will have a market share of 5.4%.8
SOURCES

1 Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 3: Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population by detailed age, sex, and race," Annual Averages 2008 (2009).

2 Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 1: Employed and experienced unemployed persons by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity," Annual Averages 2008 (2009, unpublished data).

3 Mitra Toosi, "Labor force projections to 2016: more workers in their golden years," Monthly Labor Review (November 2007). 

4 Rachel Soares, Nancy M. Carter, and Jan Combopiano, 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors (Catalyst: 2009).

5 National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics 2008 (2009).

6 U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, "Income tables PINC-01" (2009).

7 U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, "Income tables HNC-02" (2009).

8 Jeffrey M. Humphreys, "The multicultural economy 2008," Selig Center for Economic Growth, University of Georgia (2008).

UPDATED December 9, 2009

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