Owen Lei looked around his graduate class of 36 at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism last year and noticed he was the only male Asian American broadcaster.

If Lei lands his dream reporting job, he's likely to still find himself among a tiny minority — about 3 percent of broadcast journalists are Asian American men.

The University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication is releasing a study today showing that Asian women outnumber Asian men by a ratio of 4 to 1 in the nation's top 25 television markets and in nine of the top university broadcast journalism programs. The authors of the study, which was commissioned by the Asian American Journalists Association, concluded that the numbers reflect not bias, but Asian American men holding themselves back from television news.

Patricia Riley, director of the communications school at Annenberg and an author of the study, will present "Asian Male Broadcasters on TV: Where Are They?" in a panel discussion from 3:45 to 5:15 p.m. today in the Garden Terrace, Terrace Level.

Riley and her co-author, assistant Prof. Cynthia Kennard, who will not be at the panel discussion, found no indications that Asian American men do not test well in certain television markets or that viewers and broadcast managers prefer Asian American women over men.

But Victor Panichkul, AAJA national president, is not completely convinced.

"I have heard from Asian American members that there is a bias," said Panichkul.

When asked if he thought the study was conducted fairly, Panichkul said, "We wanted to make sure it was done by a third party. That's why we asked someone else to do it."

Panichkul will join other AAJA officers and Riley at a press conference at 9 a.m. Thursday in the Florentine room to present the study.

The study reported that in the nation's top 25 TV markets, 85 Asian American women work at the network affiliates, compared with 19 men, a 4 to 1 ratio. Asian American men work in only two of the five largest markets. Dallas-Fort Worth, the No. 7 market, has no male Asian American broadcasters.

The study also found that among Asian American television broadcasters, men account for 24 percent of reporters and 6.7 percent of anchors.

Asian Americans are the only ethnic group in television news in which women outnumber men, according to Bob Papper, professor of telecommunications at Ball State University. He researches racial representation in broadcast journalism for the Radio-Television News Directors Association's annual diversity survey.

According to the Annenberg study, journalism just doesn't offer enough in money or prestige to meet the approval of parents. "Asian American males are following the money," the study said.

Lei, the Medill student and an intern on this year's student television project, AAJA News Now, said, "I do feel this expectation that males do something professional." His parents were understanding but disappointed when he told them he was giving up medicine for journalism, he noted.

Dalton Tanonaka, who anchored shows for CNN's Asia bureaus and who has participated in panels on this topic for 23 years, will be on Thursday's panel as well. He said that one phenomenon feeds on the other like a vicious circle: "The reason [Asian American men] aren't seeking out the profession is because they don't see any opportunities or role models."

To address the problem, Tanonaka in 1991 created the Minoru Yasui Memorial Scholarship Award, a $1,500 scholarship for promising young Asian American male broadcast journalists. AAJA has been endowing the fund for the past seven years.

Thomas Tran, a senior studying television broadcast at Buffalo State University, won the scholarship for 2001 and 2002. He joked, "I told my friends that I won because I was the only one who applied … and then I won the next year." AAJA did not give out the award in 1998 because no one applied.

Like Lei, Tran is the only male Asian American broadcaster in his class, but views his novelty as a great opportunity: "I could really step up and make an impression."

Lei won't let numbers discourage him either. "I'm still rough around the edges," he said, "but with more experience and some good prodding from more seasoned professionals, I think I have a good shot."