Despite their numbers, South Asian Americans are sometimes excluded from the rest of the Asian American community. Many Asian American groups focus on the issues affecting Asian Americans of Chinese, Korean and Japanese descent, leaving out those from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan or the Maldives. But according to the Census 2000 Brief on Asian Americans, South Asians make up a large and growing Asian community here in the US, comprising the third-largest Asian group in the country.

So what issues do South Asians face in the world of work?

Aren't You a Techie?

With all the media hype about the cost-effective benefits of cheaper outsourcing alternatives in India and news of Big Four firms and Wall Street firms using Indian programmers, many South Asians face perception that they are all techies.

“From a business perspective, we're always thought to be ‘techies in the back office,'” says Simmi Degnemark, a business development executive and Duke MBA. “I worked in marketing and business development at my last two companies, and I was always mistaken for a member of the technology function. While that was farthest from the truth, people had these expectations that I would naturally belong in that role.”

Lack of Awareness Can Lead to Misunderstanding

Non-South Asians tend to lack knowledge about South Asian culture, which sometimes becomes an issue in the workplace. People may have heard of Chinese New Year and Kwanzaa, but mention Diwali -- the Festival of Lights, the most important annual Hindu celebration -- and their faces go blank.

“Last year, when I asked for a day off to celebrate Diwali with my family, my colleagues were totally baffled by it,” says one financial analyst of Indian descent who works for a large entertainment company. “They told me, ‘Didn't you already celebrate Chinese New Year?', implying I was making up this holiday to take a day off from work. I knew they were half-joking, but underneath it all, there was complete ignorance about the whole Indian culture and lifestyle.”

Later in the year, the analyst brought some homemade Indian desserts to a Friday team meeting, giving his coworkers an opportunity to try Indian cuisine and learn a bit about his culture. This helped open a dialogue about his family and some of the Indian customs they practice.

Help Educate Others

One thing you can do is make more people aware of your heritage. Doing so could help more people understand the distinctions among Asian nationalities. Established Asian American communities can also take action by including, and recruiting, more South Asians in their groups. You can also:

• Take a proactive approach. Don't wait to be asked to join committees, minority affinity groups, etc. Approach your manager or HR department about starting up a new committee or task force if none exists for your group.
• Look for a mentor (not necessarily someone who is South Asian) who will support your efforts in developing leadership skills at your firm.
• Check out national and local resources that are available for the South Asian community, including the Network of Indian Professionals in America (NETIP), a networking organization with chapters across the US, and the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA). The South Asian Network, a regional network of South Asians in Southern California, and the Network of South Asian Professionals in Boston can help as well.