As president of the Asian American Psychological Association since last September, Alvin Nemeno Alvarez, a Filipino American, hopes to increase the psychology community's awareness of cultural differences within the Asian-American community.
"There's been a lot of writing about how Asian Americans are overrepresented in higher education," says Alvarez, who graduated from the University of Maryland in 1996. "But not all segments of the community are being represented."
For instance, he notes that Filipino Americans are underrepresented in both enrollment and college and university faculties.
Alvarez, who also heads San Francisco State University's college counseling program, hopes that he can help increase both the psychology and higher education communities' awareness of Asian-American issues, such as their reluctance to seek help.