Research

Asian American Small Business Owners: Inequitable Access to Government COVID-19 Relief(link is external)

Minh Anh Van
2021
Minh Anh Van, Interdisciplinary Studies Field, Class of 2023

Internship Office: Federal Defender's Office

Over the past year with the COVID-19 pandemic, many studies have raised the concern that minority-owned businesses have had a hard time accessing the relief offered from the government due to systemic barriers. However, what is not widely addressed is the comparison among small business owners within each minority group itself. Looking at the experiences of Asian American small business owners as a case study, this op-ed highlights the inequitable and flawed evaluation,...

BIPOC Small Businesses: Surviving and Sacrifice

Tanvi Saran
2021
Tanvi Saran, Political Science, Media Studies, Class of 2022

Internship Office: Governor's Office of Planning and Research and the Strategic Growth Council

The Covid-19 Pandemic revealed a subset of the American population that was particularly vulnerable to not only the health affects of the virus but also economic, social, and access. With an understanding of what these vulnerable populations look like, this op-ed explores how BIPOC small businesses are able to withstand the pandemic, and what factors they exhibit that allowed for their survival or what factors led to their...

Black Businesses Face the Brunt of the Coronavirus, but Where Is the Aid?

Nyanga Nyandemoh
2021
Nyanga Nyandemoh, Social Welfare, Class of 2021

Internship Office: Federal Public Defenders

Black Owned businesses through the pandemic faced hands on the foreclosures, the cut hours and as well the disproportionate distribution of aid . By reviewing Black population census data and PPP loan distribution in Los Angeles county/national this op-ed highlights the barriers Black businesses faced pre-pandemic and how they became exacerbated during this time because of structural inequities.

COVID-19 Relief & Recovery: Vietnamese American Businesses in San Jose's Little Saigon

Jimmy Nguyen
2021
Jimmy Nguyen, Political Science, Class of 2023

Internship Office: California Department of Education

Limited business operations and low consumer activity have either forced Vietnamese American small businesses to close or leaving them hanging by a thread. A recent February 2021 article about San Jose’s largest Vietnamese mall and the surrounding Vietnamese business district shows the additional disadvantages and barriers these small businesses have encountered in the face of COVID-19, including but not limited to: language barriers, lack of monetary relief, and technological gaps....

Contract Local! An examination of San Francisco's Local Business Enterprise Program

Joshua Kay
2021
Joshua Kay, Society & the Environment; Rhetoric, Class of 2023

Internship Office: Congresswoman Doris Matsui

In 1996, Proposition 209 officially banned all consideration of race or gender in public college admission, employment and contracting. While a large amount of research and resources have been devoted to studying the impacts of university affirmative action, and its outcomes on underrepresented populations, little research has been done on the impact of the removal of race- and gender-conscious programs on these populations. Through a review of local business contract...

Were they Enough? Cal Relief Grants Battling Gendered Unemployment in the Pandemic

Erin Hamill
2021
Erin Hamill, Political Science, Class of 2023

Internship Office: Senator Mike McGuireResearch

The Covid-19 pandemic, unlike past economic downturns, has had a disproportionate effect on women in both the employment and ownership sector. California has poured billions into the economic recovery of its businesses, but that still hasn't been enough to help all businesses, as many continued to suffer and face closures. This blogpost will highlight the ways the Cal relief grants continued to allow many businesses to slip through the cracks and the trickle down effect that had on female...

Against Hate and Hardship: How Asian American Small Businesses and Restaurants Have Survived the COVID-19 Pandemic

Kai Noah Serrano Eusebio
2021
Kai Noah Serrano Eusebio, Political Science, Class of 2021

Internship Office: Office of Assemblymember Alex Lee

Asian American small businesses have had to face both Anti-Asian hate/xenophobia as well as bear the dramatic slowdown in business within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, due to the high turnover rate that restaurants already face, as well as bans on inside dining, Asian American small business restaurants have seen drastic decreases in business they receive and struggle to survive as a result. Through interviews and research on Asian American small...

Paycheck Protection Program: Unequal Loan Distribution and Increasing Racial Disparities

Michael Diaz
2021
Michael Diaz, Sociology and Chicano Studies, Class of 2023

Internship Office: Office of Senator Monique Limon

In 2020, Latinx-owned businesses had their PPP loans approved nearly half the rate of white-owned businesses, 10% compared to 17%. The food service industry remains one of the hardest hit sectors of the pandemic which has resulted in large decreases in revenue, reduced employee hours, and increased employee lay-offs.Through an analysis of PPP loan distribution by the Small Business Administration in California and interviews with Latinx restaurant owners, this op-ed...

Swap Meet Vendors: An Exploration of Neglected Voices

Pedro Adrian De Anda Plascencia
2021
Pedro Adrian De Anda Plascencia, Political Science and English, Class of 2021

Internship Office: Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund

COVID-19 has without a doubt disproportionately impacted small businesses and businesses owned by members of marginalized communities; however, much of the literature that exists on this sector fails to account for the impact of the pandemic on swap meet vendors. Through first-hand interviews with seven Southern California swap meet vendors, this op-ed highlights the narratives and experiences of undocumented vendors, vendors of color,...

The Mountain of Waste: How Small Businesses Have Managed Food Packaging Practices During the COVID-19 Era(link is external)

Layla Dargahi
2021
Layla Dargahi, Global Studies, Class of 2022

Internship Office: California Department of Food and Agriculture

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many restaurants to struggle as dining-in no longer became an option, causing a reduction in customers. Restaurants were forced to quickly adjust, resulting in a huge increase in disposable packaging for meals as most meal options were only offered as takeout. The op-ed explores the various effects of increased packaging in BIPOC Oakland based restaurants as they navigate costs, government guidelines, and other challenges to stay afloat.