The Leadership Representation Ceiling for Asian Americans

Asian Americans are often stereotyped as the “model minority” – wealthy, hard-working, and successful. Because of this perception, Asian Americans are often left out of discussions about discrimination in the workplace or breaking through the glass ceiling. Yet, research shows that this group is disproportionately held back from leadership roles, which is just one of the many indicators disproving the model minority myth.

Misconceptions and biases about Asian Americans, as well as cultural differences, are fueling a leadership perception gap. Companies can do more to address this through awareness training and shifts in existing diversity and inclusion programs.

Misconceptions, stereotypes, and biases about Asian Americans

The model minority myth hurts Asian Americans by holding them up as a model of success, erasing the struggles they face and ignoring the wide disparity among different Asian communities.

Although the U.S. Asian population is generally successful from an economic perspective, these results vary widely among specific groups. In fact, Asians have displaced African-Americans as the most economically divided racial or ethnic group in the U.S. From 1970 to 2016, income gains for lower-income Asians trailed far behind gains made by their counterparts in other racial or ethnic groups. In addition, one in seven Asian immigrants in the U.S. is undocumented. These struggles put many Asian Americans at a disadvantage, with a potentially negative impact on career development and consideration for leadership positions.

Cultural differences

Asian Americans are often held back by cultural stereotypes that can be at odds with Western ideas about leadership. Asian values emphasize humility and deference to authority, whereas Western leadership centers on leaders being masculine, dictatorial, and charismatic. Other tripwires are rooted in cultures that instill Asians with communication and networking styles at odds with the mainstream dynamic of assertiveness and directness. This puts Asian Americans at a disadvantage, where, like women, they are often seen as fitting low- to mid-level management positions, but not top-level leadership.

These different cultural values may be one reason why more Asian Americans aren’t found in leadership roles. Cultural factors are significant, given that 73% of Asian American adults were born outside of the U.S and might be more comfortable and familiar with differing perceptions of what makes a leader. These are, of course, generalizations, but the assumption that Asian Americans hold these values can itself be an obstacle to career advancement.

The leadership ceiling

These stereotypes have real impact. Statistics show that Asian Americans continue to face many barriers to leadership positions, despite higher education and training qualifications. Analysis of national EEOC workforce data found that Asian American white-collar professionals are the least likely group to be promoted into management — less likely than any other race, including Blacks and Hispanics.

Asian Americans represent 27% of professionals in the U.S., but only half that among executives. White men and women are 154% more likely than Asians to hold an executive role. According to 2012 data, Asians represent only 1.5% of corporate officer positions in the Fortune 500.

Asian Americans are also underrepresented when it comes to corporate board seats. In 2018, just 19.5% of Fortune 100 companies’ board seats were held by minorities, including Asian Americans. While the percentage of board seats held by African American/Blacks and Asian Americans increased slightly between 2016 and 2018, that advancement is slow.

Ways to narrow the gap

Many things can be done to even the playing field. The first step to breaking this cycle is increasing awareness of this leadership gap so companies and individuals can address it in existing diversity and inclusion programs. These efforts should take place alongside continuous learning programs, bias training, and exposure to different cultures and networks.

Many Asian-related diversity programs skew toward cultural inclusion rather than management diversity. With this in mind, organizations can re-prioritize how they view leadership and allow for a range of communication styles. Shifting the focus of these existing programs to promote targeted leadership development can help companies diversify their leadership. Diversity programs can do a lot to change the way decision-makers view leaders and leadership.

Finally, companies and leadership can also change how performance and career conversations are structured to narrow this divide. One way to minimize bias is to include feedback from outside the direct team so employees benefit from a constructive feedback loop, receiving perspective from more people, not only a direct manager. Inclusion dialogues and unconscious bias training can also help raise awareness of misconceptions and biases.

As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, businesses who do more to foster diverse and inclusive leadership will not only achieve management that more accurately reflects the diversity of their clients and consumers, but also will gain a competitive advantage.

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