UMass Lowell Professor Creates Mentoring Network for Asian American Teachers

04/05/2021

Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-758-4664 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu

LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell Associate Prof. Phitsamay Uy was the first refugee from Laos to receive tenure as a professor of education in the United States. And for years, she was the only one.

Determined to change that, Uy has started a mentoring network for Asian American and Pacific Islander teachers and education students.

“One of my goals is to try to bring as many Asian American educators up through the K-12 and higher-education ranks as I can,” said Uy, who joined UMass Lowell’s College of Education in 2011.

Working with educators in Canton, Charlestown and Medford, Uy launched the Asian American Educator Mentor Program in 2019 with a $35,000 award from a National Education Association grant program that provides support for diverse teachers. The grant was just renewed.

Teachers of color are greatly underrepresented in the nation’s schools, even as the school-age population is becoming more diverse, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Nationwide, 79 percent of teachers are white, but nearly half of K-12 public school students are Black, Hispanic, Asian American, Pacific Islander, Native American or multiracial, according to the U.S. Census.

The need to support Asian American and Pacific Islander educators is particularly acute, according to Uy. Although educators are highly respected in most Asian countries, many Asian American families discourage their children from pursuing teaching careers in the United States in favor of higher paying jobs in other fields, Uy said.

Only 2 percent of U.S. public school teachers are Asian American, and less than 1 percent are Pacific Islanders, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

The mentoring program has 40 participants and has expanded this year to include several veteran teachers in California and Minnesota. Connecting via Zoom meetings, the full group convenes regularly for educational presentations and discussions with scholars and leaders of community organizations. Smaller mentoring groups that include one education student, one or two early-career teachers and one veteran teacher also meet on a rotating basis.

UMass Lowell students in the mentoring program say one key benefit of the group is simply meeting other people who understand their experiences.

English major Linda Lak, who emigrated from Cambodia a decade ago, said the group’s support is giving her the confidence she needs to become an elementary school or bilingual education teacher in her hometown, Lowell, or a similar community, so that she can help other immigrant students.

“Growing up here, I’ve seen a lot of teachers and they inspire me a lot,” Lak said.

As a bilingual student, Lak said she was often afraid to raise her hand and answer questions until she felt more confident in speaking English. Now, in the mentoring group, she’s learning more about her identity as an Asian American.

“I just feel this sense of belonging and community. That’s really important for me,” she said. “I’m learning more about what it’s like to be a teacher of color and I think that’s important, because knowing what they have shared, I won’t be surprised if I experience these things in the workplace and will know to speak up for myself.”

Sahaj Rijal emigrated from Nepal with his family when he was 10 years old and now lives in Harwich. A UMass Lowell chemistry major, he participates in the university’s UTeach program, which prepares students to teach science, technology, engineering or math. Through UTeach, Rijal is assisting in Lowell Public Schools; his involvement in the Asian American Educator Mentor Program is helping him succeed in that effort.

“What I like is that you have this connection to 40 Asian American educators who have gone through similar things that I have, or worse things, and still come out teaching and helping other Asian American teachers and students. Hearing part of their journey is very interesting and inspiring,” he said. “They’ve created this safe space for Asian American educators to come together and talk about these things and not be judged.”

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