Study: Asian-American men in U.S. pay gap

LAWRENCE, Kan., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. employers don't pay Asian-American men as much as they pay similarly qualified white men, a University of Kansas study found.

Researchers analyzed data from the 2003 National Survey of College Graduates to investigate earnings, a university release said Tuesday.

"The most striking result is that native-born Asian Americans -- who were born in the U.S. and speak English perfectly -- their income is 8 percent lower than whites after controlling for their college majors, their places of residence and their level of education," ChangHwan Kim, assistant professor of sociology and study leader, said.

The findings show the United States has a way to go toward the goal of becoming a colorblind society, Kim says.

"As an individual, you can reach as high as president," he says. "But as an ethnic group, no group has reached full parity with whites. That's the current status of racial equality in the United States."

Despite the disparity in income levels, Asian-American men fare better than they did before the Civil Rights era in the United States, Kim says.

"The 8 percent difference is large, but it is small compared to previous Asian-American generations," Kim said. "Previous generations had income levels much lower, so in this sense we've made progress."

The research appears in the December issue of the American Sociological Review.