Tag Archive for: Asian American Women

Ivy Tsui: Director of Program Management for DE&I, PGIM Real Estate

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Ivy Tsui“It is very important to have a sponsor for your career” says Ivy Tsui. “You need somebody to advocate for you and be your voice in places where maybe you don’t have a voice.”

Tsui speaks to staying open and authentic, asking for sponsorship and embodying inclusion.

From Banking to Inclusion

“I have always been open to different opportunities beginning from early on in my career to now–because where you end up may not be where you thought you would go,” she advises. “Life is a journey and it’s not always linear.” Tsui’s parents immigrated to the US from Taiwan and Hong Kong, and she has learned a lot from their adaptability and unwavering spirit.

Tsui started out in banking after obtaining her dual-major bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations at Wellesley College. Tsui spent the first 14 years of her career at J.P. Morgan, and crossed many different disciplines–eventually landing in human resources–while obtaining her master’s degree in organizational psychology from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. In 2017, Tsui made the move to PGIM Real Estate.

While DE&I has always been an aspect of her HR work, in April, Tsui joined a new team headed by Christy Lockridge–the first Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer of PGIM Real Estate–which is focused on advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in five key areas of impact: Talent, Culture, Industry, Investing, and Community. To Tsui, the new role feels like a culmination of her professional and personal experiences, especially as an Asian American woman.

Tsui is passionate about how the work of the DE&I team impacts people directly, and she’s especially energized about building a diverse pipeline of early talent. One of her key programs is the PGIM Real Estate Sophomore Training Program (STP), which gives college students early exposure, training and experience in the real estate industry–an industry that has historically not been very diverse. Tsui noticed the need to introduce real estate to students before their junior year (when students usually apply for internships) and has tripled the number of sophomore interns in the past four years.

“We often see students majoring in real estate because of a family member in the business. STP provides sophomores from diverse backgrounds, who otherwise may not know about real estate as a career possibility, the opportunity to work in real estate asset management.” says Tsui. “Some may not stay in real estate, but it opens a lot of different doors for them regardless.”

Being Open and Authentic

Tsui accredits her openness, adaptability and flexibility to her diverse and varied experiences: “I’ve never strategized about how this or that will bring me to the next level. I’ve been more interested in learning new things–sometimes, you have to take a step back or go lateral to really develop yourself.”

“I’ve always found people feel comfortable to talk and open up with me, and I make connections quite easily, and am able to meet people where they are at, which is quite a valuable skill in the HR and DE&I spaces.”

Describing herself as unconventional and an extroverted introvert, with a quirky sense of humor, Tsui has stayed true to herself and feels she has grown in self-confidence with time.

“One of the biggest pieces of advice to my younger self would be to let go of the fear to share my opinion,” says Tsui. “Early in my career, I was more conservative in offering my perspective and spoke only if I had the perfect comment. I’ve realized it’s okay to not always have the right answer or right idea, but it’s important to use your voice. There is power, value and hopefully impact, in sharing diverse perspectives.”

Tsui encourages mentees to do the same: “It doesn’t matter if you’re a junior level person in a room of more seasoned executives, you’ve been given a seat at the table for a reason and it is in the firm’s best interest to encourage and embrace your perspective. You have valuable things to say, so don’t sit in the background. Use your voice, early on.”

Asking For Sponsorship

Tsui absolutely recognizes the importance of being championed at work. She cites the difference between mentorship and sponsorship as critical: a mentor is someone who provides you with career advice and feedback and a sponsor is someone who directly advocates for you in your career development, whether for a promotion or an opportunity.

She encourages employees to have mentors and a sponsor but while she’s had highly valuable informal mentors, she has never had either a formal mentor nor a sponsor, and never asked for one.

“I think that’s partly because as an Asian American female, we’re taught ‘Just put your head down, work hard, do a good job and you’ll be rewarded or at least you won’t fail. Don’t ask for anything more and don’t rock the boat.’ But that doesn’t work.”

Tsui wishes someone had nudged her towards the advice she now gives: “My advice to everyone, but especially to Asian American women and people of color, is that you have to be in control of your own career and vocalize what you want. Even if it’s uncomfortable, you have to find mentors, formally or informally, and you absolutely need to find a sponsor.”

“I’ve learned that it’s important to be your own best advocate. Communication is key to ensure my manager and leaders in my group are informed of what I’m doing and know what my future interests are. This helps keep me in mind for both additional responsibilities and stretch opportunities.”

Embodying Inclusion

“As I’ve moved up, I’ve felt it’s increasingly important to make sure that all voices are heard. If a few people are dominating the Zoom conversation, and I see someone trying to speak or someone who doesn’t often speak, I will try to bring them in and have their voice included,” says Tsui. “When I was in that junior position, I would have loved if someone would have asked for my thoughts, so now I have that opportunity.”

Tsui also makes a point of saying hello to everybody she passes. And while it might seem basic, she notes you’d be surprised how often people just walk past each other. Especially as the senior person, it can help to create inclusion by simply acknowledging the more junior people you pass by.

Another regular practice is to thank people for their contributions in public to increase recognition. She also may draw a more hesitant person into a group conversation while at a networking opportunity.

“Much of this comes naturally to me, but some of it, I do with intent–especially if I see an opportunity to lead by example,” says Tsui.

Choosing Her Own Path

Tsui was advised by a current mentor not to compare her life or her career path to others, and that advice has served. Throughout her career, she’s made choices that were not linear, but were aligned to her personal desires–whether a lateral move to an opportunity outside of her comfort zone, time out of her career after having her third child, or choosing her location based on family-work rhythm.

“I made all those decisions based on what was more important for me at each of those times and they did have trade-offs – whether it was a less competitive salary or getting that more senior title, sooner,” notes Tsui. “But I am happier because of those experiences and grateful for them. This was my path, and I don’t compare myself to peers who chose a different path.”

Tsui met her Colombian husband, who was raised in Brazil, during her early investment banking years. They have three children – Sofia, 15, Bruno, 12 and Emma, 6. At any given time in her house, there’s a combination of Spanish, Portuguese and Mandarin being spoken. Based in New Jersey, she loves visiting her parents and sisters in California, and considers them to be a bicoastal family. She plays piano, and recently played Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24 by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra with her nieces and nephew, although ballads are her usual jam.

By Aimee Hansen

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Jingjing Liang: Associate, Compensation, Governance & ERISA practice, Shearman & Sterling LLP

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Jingjing Liang“The truth is, if I can be loving and patient, and approach whatever comes my way with compassion, everything will fall into place,” says Jingjing (JJ) Liang. “Being a good lawyer, a good colleague, a good mother, a good partner, a good daughter – it all starts with being a loving person. Approaching things with a loving attitude will make things easier for you.”

Liang speaks about staying open-minded, building your confidence, using your voice and showing up to the moment.

Be Open to Surprise

“Keep an open mind,” Liang advises law students. She never would have seen herself in law, let alone as a specialist in compensation and governance – yet there are advantages to unforeseen changes.

Having specialized in European history in her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto, Liang became interested in legal history while studying in Europe. She took her mother’s insightful advice to work as a paralegal before investing in law school. After working for a year as a legal intern in Beijing, China and another year as a legal assistant in Toronto, Canada, she headed to the University of Texas School of Law. During her summer associate program at Shearman & Sterling in New York, where she rotated through the firm’s M&A and litigation practice groups, she received an offer to join the compensation and governance group.

“At that time, I thought, I have no idea what this is, this is so specialized, I just want to do M&A,” confesses Liang. “My work was very tough in the beginning as a first-year associate, because there were nothing from which I could draw on from my law school studies. The learning curve was steep.”

It was only when Liang found herself teaching summer associates that she realized how quickly she had grown and how much she enjoyed the work. Relative to her peers in other practices, Liang found she was not just reviewing and proofreading documents as a junior associate, but actually providing substantive legal advice and engaging directly with clients. “I’m glad I kept an open mind to try out this practice, I never would have known how well-suited it was for me if I hadn’t.”

How You Approach The Moment Is the Practice

Being patient, flexible and quick on her feet has served Liang well, but her ability to approach a situation and respond adeptly is her core practice.

When an urgent request comes in the night before an early meeting, it’s easy to stress. But Liang draws on her work as a meditation and yoga instructor: “The person in front of me and the request is not by definition stressful. It could be stressful to me, but interesting or fun to somebody else,” she observes. “So if the stress is coming from me, then I have the ability to change it. That’s how I try to approach difficult moments. I try to ask, ‘how can I ease the situation so it becomes easier for everyone involved.’”

Early on, Liang received two valuable insights into the enigma of work-life balance in Big Law: “It can be pretty impossible to strive for ‘work-life balance’ on a daily basis, so if you focus on balance in the ‘tree’ of a day, it can feel like a fight. But if you can step back and observe the wave of activities that come and go throughout a month or couple of months, you can take in the ‘forest’ and find more balance.”

Liang recommends that junior lawyers make plans with families and friends and surround themselves with people who will understand when something comes up. Even if you need to cancel a weekend plan, it’s important to still create the room to nurture your personal and social life.

Building and Bringing Confidence

As she becomes more senior, Liang’s advice to her younger self would be to take time and dig into the topics in your field you’re deeply interested in. “What did I enjoy most in this deal and what can I do next to strengthen the skills I gained today?” She recommends stepping back after big deals or intense periods of work to reflect on the learning experience to deepen career development.

“You’re learning so many different topics over time and quickly, it would be worthwhile to categorize your specialties so you can reinforce each one, becoming aware of your strengths and weaknesses in the substantive aspects of law,” says Liang. “I think it’s important to build confidence in your knowledge base, and that’s hard to do when it’s go-go-go.”

Reflecting on how her generation is changing the legal field, she feels her peers in her generation are more likely to just sit at the table rather than waiting to be invited: “Even more, when we sit at the table, we’re not afraid to ask questions and contribute. We’re not afraid to give our view and participate in a discussion among more senior lawyers, ” she says, also noting her parents encouraged speaking up early on in life. “I’m not embarrassed to be wrong (of course, being thoughtful about my contribution is important too). I’m excited to have this conversation with everyone at the table.”

Liang recognizes that she stands on the shoulders of women who have paved the way, and for that, her generation of women tends to hesitate less: “Women lawyers at conferences are always talking about not having to stay quiet because you’re a woman, and I am thinking, I don’t think we’re being quiet.”

When it comes to being Asian American, at certain times in her journey, Liang has felt stereotyped, such as the expectation that she would be quiet, being asked where she’s really from, or being spoken to in some Asian language. These problems can be subtle and until she talks with Asian peers who have had similar experiences, it’s difficult to validate what’s happening in that moment. “It’s a difficult conversation,” she says, “but because discrimination, macro or micro, is still there, we’re still talking about it.”

She does not, however, feel she’s facing a “bamboo ceiling” in Big Law, and found it inspiring last year to witness two female Asian women appointed to partners at Shearman, including Lara Aryani. She also feels lucky to work closely with female partners at the firm who value the mentoring and sponsorship of young lawyers through open dialogue and active training on how to be successful in this industry.

An Ever More Compassionate Self

Certified by Three Jewels Enlightenment Studio, Liang became a meditation and yoga instructor. During the pandemic, she was able to establish a more regular meditation practice to help cope with work, the ever-changing state of the world, and more recently, being a new parent. To give back to her community, she currently teaches yoga on Sundays with Three Jewels.

One of Liang’s meditation practices is “Future Refuge” – where you envision your future and step into that version within your present self: “If I can envision all of these aspects of my future self, what’s stopping me from being that today? Even if I can’t change external conditions, how can I embody the characteristics of the ‘future me’ now?”

Engaging in her meditation and yoga practice regularly, she sees herself in five years as being even more calm, loving and compassionate. Going back to when a client asks her for an emergency request, in a difficult moment, she chooses to view the request as if it’s coming from her best friend who she would do anything for, even if it throws her evening plans awry.

She also loves being with her ten-month-old son, watching how he explores the world and looks forward to traveling the world with him in the future.

By Aimee Hansen

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Asian American Women Leaders: No Equity or Inclusion without Promotion.

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Asian American Women LeadersDiversity is not the same as equity and inclusion, and that case is made strongly by the real gap between the large numbers of Asian Americans and Asian American women in professional roles and the slight numbers holding senior and executive leadership positions.

An evolution of both equitability in promotions and more inclusive images of leadership is needed to breakthrough the nebulous bamboo ceiling – propped up by perceptions, stereotypes, projections and some cultural differences that have very little to do with leadership competency.

It’s A Promotion Issue

When we talk Asian American heritage in the U.S., we are talking about a widely diverse aggregate of people – individuals from distinctive ethnic backgrounds from 3 major regions and over 20 countries: East Asians (incl. Chinese and Japanese individuals), South Asians (incl. Indians and Pakistanis) and Southeast Asians (incl. Thai and Vietnamese individuals).

As a diverse whole, this fastest-growing demographic group of Asian Americans are over-represented among the highly educated and the professional workforce, but highly underrepresented in leadership: they represent 7% of the U.S. population, 13% of the U.S. professional workforce and only 6% of executive posts. Only 4 CEOS of Fortune 500 companies are Asian American women, 4 CEOS of S&P 500, and none of the S&P 100.

Asian Americans are least likely to be promoted to senior management and leadership: In 2016, Ascend found that one of every 12 white men and one of every 28 white women in the professional workforce is an executive, but only one of every 30 Asian American men and one of every 64 Asian American women have reached executive level.

This invisible barrier to senior leadership shows up across professional sectors:

  • Ascend found that only 1 out of every 285 Asian women and 1 out of every 201 Asian men in Silicon Valley was an executive.
  • Yale reported that Asian Americans have the lowest ratio of parters to associates.
  • Asian Americans manage less than 1% of capital in the asset management industry despite meeting and exceeding industry performance benchmarks.
  • While comprising 23% of middle managers and professionals in banking’s six largest U.S. lenders, Asian Americans make up only 7% to 19% of executives in these organizations.

As Buck Gee, researcher and executive advisor to Ascend, summarizes: “The problem is equity of promotions.”

The Gaps in Inclusion and Addressing Discrimination

Not surprisingly, 65% of AAPI managers view the bamboo ceiling as a moderate to serious problem in their careers and nearly all see it as problematic – yet Asians are too often not prioritized or even included in DEI efforts. In Bain’s research on belonging and inclusion, Asians – both men (16%) and women (20%) – felt the least included of anyone, even though more represented than other groups in many environments.

45% of Asian adults have experienced outwardly offensive incidents since the start of the pandemic. 67% of Asians feel business has ignored racism against their community, 58% say racism in the workplace has damaged their relationship to their employer and 55% say little has been practically done to address systemic racism.

As highlighted last year during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the myriad form of discrimination and stereotypes that Asians experience are invalidated, obscured and gaslighted by the “model minority” mythology. These include lack of ethnic discernment, cultural ignorance, imposed cultural stereotypes as well as real cultural values and communication norms at odds with Western ‘masculine’ leadership concepts, racialized sexism/sexualized racism, and disproportionate work expectations due to perceptions of being content with self-sacrificing, hard-working, and delivering high performance standards. In terms of microaggressions, the term “interchangeable Asian” has come to qualify the frequent experience of being mistaken for someone else alongside the presumption of the perpetual foreigner.

Experiences of Exclusion Despite Representation in Tech

Ascend previously found that while Asian Americans comprised the largest cohort of entry-level, non-managerial employees with a college degree in Silicon Valley (47%), they are half as likely as white men and white women to hold positions within two reporting levels of the CEO.

Due to representation, Asian women are often excluded from DEI initiatives, but a Center for Worklife Law report released in April on women of color in tech reveals that the experiences of diverse Asian women in tech more closely parallel other women of color who are underrepresented.

East Asian women report lower engagement and career satisfaction. They are 66% less likely than white women to see a long-term future in tech, 42% more likely to have felt demeaned, disrespected, left out of the loop, or treated as invisible, 47% more likely than white women to have their competence and commitment put into question when becoming mothers, and 38% more likely to have difficulty getting administrative support.

South Asian women were 60% less likely than white women to see a long-term future in tech, 54% more likely to be given work beneath their skillset, and 54% more likely to feel that distancing from those like them was a politically savvy move at work. Whereas Southeast Asian women were 29% more likely than white women to leave a job for the workplace culture, 57% more likely to feel called on to perform emotional labor, 51% more likely to feel corralled into traditionally feminine roles, 45% more likely to feel perceived as a team player not a leader, and 43% more likely to feel expected to be a worker bee.

Diversifying the Image of Leadership

We previously called out that organizations are blatantly overlooking Asian American women leaders, who are already in the talent pipeline but getting caught in a career plateau, and organizations need to diversify the image of leadership:

  • Western leadership norms that are too narrow and over-emphasize “assertiveness,” not even the best indicator of an effective leader, are keeping East Asians from the US C-Suite. Too often, the cultural norms of humility and conformity are perceived as a lack of confidence or motivation, which they are not.
  • Insights into successful C-Suite Asian American Executives reveal many source their leadership in the non-visible values of continuous learning, collectivism and humility – but a too narrow definition of leadership inhibits companies from recognizing and promoting diverse leaders in, and for, their authentic leadership styles.

Asian-American Bain Partners and researchers, Karthik Venkataraman and Pam Yee, observe that equitability in systemic enablers (relative to everyday behavioral enablers) – such as performance management, promotion and recruitment – are more meaningful to Asian-Americans in creating inclusion. This is not surprising when statistics reveal that systemic inequities are at play in creating unequitable outcomes – and real interventions need to happen.

For one, clearly Asian Americans need to be included in equity and inclusion strategies, and formal executive sponsorship programs are needed to support Asian American women into those leadership spaces. If you’re a leader, considering being the sponsor that supports with visibility and exposure, and advocates for high-profile work and opportunities, for an Asian American woman who is being overlooked. If you’re an Asian American woman and you don’t have one now or have never had one, truly consider finding a sponsor to advocate for you, even if it’s uncomfortable to ask.

Inclusion means that individuals feel equitably valued and supported as their authentic selves, empowered, and able to fulfill their potential in the workplace. Bain Partners Venkataraman and Yee reflect on the leadership gap for Asian Americans, that also exists in their organization, and the potential cost of assimilation their generations made: “We believe that our junior colleagues are going to insist on being able to bring more of their cultures and experiences to the workplace than we did so that they can feel as though they belong as their authentic selves, and we need to do our part to make that possible for them.”

Indeed.

By Aimee Hansen

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Diversify the Image of Corporate Leadership to Include Asian American Women

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Asian American Women LeadersIf more Asian American women are to reach leadership positions, Corporate America needs to integrate a wider and more inclusive image of what leadership looks and feels like.

Nearly 40% of Asian American women identify as entrepreneurs. According to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Business Report, Asian American women-owned businesses represent 9% of all women-owned businesses.

Between 2014 to 2019, the average revenue for women-of-color-owned businesses shrank, according to the report, with the exception of Asian women-owned businesses. The average earned revenue for these firms indexes 33% above all women-owned businesses and represent the highest number for any racial/ethnic group, though Asian American businesses have been been disproportionately devastated by the virus of racism since the pandemic began.

Asian American women know how to lead and the results of their businesses prove they lead well. Last week, theglasshammer talked about the insidious harm of stereotypes, mythology and microaggressions when it comes to obstacles to reaching corporate leadership for Asian American women.

Now let’s question a definition of leadership that closes the gates to women that are compelled to lead – especially East Asian women.

The Over-Valuation of Assertiveness

Asian American women leaders are far from a monolith and are not represented equally in leadership either. Another factor at play in inhibiting East Asian women, in particular, in attaining executive leadership roles is a status quo of narrow leadership norms that close the gates to a diversity of leadership qualities and approaches.

A report on diversity among Fortune 500 CEOs from 2000 to 2020 indicates that 35 Asian-Americans were CEOs Of Fortune 500 companies during this period: 13 were East Asians and 22 were South Asians. Only six were women.

Among Standard & Poor’s 500 companies between 2010 and 2017, there were 1.92 white CEOs per million in the U.S population, 2.82 South Asian CEOS per million in the population, and only .59 East Asian CEOS per million in the population.

Recently released research from MIT Sloan associate professor Jackson Lu explored why East Asians, but not South Asians, are uniquely underrepresented in leadership in U.S. business, concluding that this inequality is “an issue of cultural fit — a mismatch between East Asian norms of communication and American norms of leadership.”

While non-Asian Americans exhibited greater “prejudice” against South Asians than East Asians, this did not correspond with the leadership gap. “Motivation” was also equal between the groups. What the researchers posit is that the over-evaluation of “assertiveness” in U.S. leadership, which East Asians consistently scored lower on, is why East Asians are less likely to attain leadership positions.

Whereas South Asian cultures often encourage assertiveness and debate, East Asian cultures often emphasize humility and conformity, but this is not indicative of the lack of confidence nor motivation that it can be perceived as through a Western lens.

“Importantly, assertive leaders are not necessarily the most effective ones. American organizations need to diversify the prototype of what a leader should look like,” states Wu. An overly assertion-based leadership ideal not only has a cultural and gender bias but an inclination towards more toxic shadow traits of leadership.

Diversifying The Leadership Norm

Part of valuing and respecting Asian American women leaders involves changing the cultural norm and implicit prototype of what we value in leadership.

A September 2020 paper from Russell Reynolds Associates suggests that companies “reconsider internal definitions of who is qualified to lead”—pointing out that a too narrow definition of good leaders is what inhibits the wider objectivity needed to promote the best leaders in their own authentic leadership style.

“Past efforts to fill this leadership gap have mainly focused on how Asian Americans should individually moderate their leadership styles to adapt to the dominant culture. Yet this approach opens the possibility that they will be criticized for another reason: failing to match American expectations of stereotypical Asian American behavior,” writes the authors. “We consider this a ‘double-edged sword,’ with neither path allowing them to be recognized and rewarded for their authentic leadership styles, wherever they fall on the spectrum of cultural expectations.”

“In our experience, the leadership gap is not a reflection of how well Asian Americans can lead,” the authors continue, “but rather how narrowly companies define what a successful leader looks like and how he or she should behave.”

“While many organizations value assertiveness and self-confidence in their leaders,” says Deborah Ancona, professor of leadership at MIT Sloan and founder of the MIT Leadership Center, “it is important to note that there are many different leadership capabilities that organizations also need to foster and reward.”

A qualitative LEAP Asian American Executive Leadership report revealed that among successful C-Suite Asian American executives, the non-visible values of continuous learning, collectivism and humility were at the root of their successful leadership.

Along with recommendations for individuals that would frankly apply to any aspiring leader (self-reflect, observe others, push (your own) boundaries and be open), the LEAP authors recommend, in their words, that organizations take three actions:

  • Redefine leadership – reconsider the definition of leadership combining the uniqueness of Asian Americans and, organizational, and societal needs
  • Create spaces – offer programs that embrace leadership styles, mindsets and values that develop and align to Asian American leaders
  • Reach out – include Asian Americans’ diverse perspectives and mindsets when navigating change and uncertainty

The cultural and personal influences that characterize the leadership of any given individual will be unique—the point is for more varied expressions to be invited in, to reveal their own strengths and benefits.

Our definition of leadership is dated and limiting the range of talent that gets in and leadership approaches. In order to create more diversity in leadership, we need to diversify the way we think about leadership, to begin with.

By Aimee Hansen

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Why Asian American Women In Business Need You To Not Be Passive

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Asian American WomenIt’s been well-documented that Asian American women in business are often the professional but too rarely the executive.

As written in Forbes, Asian American women are the demographic group most likely to have graduate degrees but least likely to hold positions within three reporting levels of the CEO or to have line or supervisory responsibilities. Asian women outnumber Asian men among associates at U.S. law firms, but Asian men are nearly twice as likely as Asian women to be promoted to partner (64% vs. 36%).

Recently, in a national outcry against anti-Asian racism, micro-assaults, commercial discrimination and hate crimes that have risen across the pandemic, culminating in the March Atlanta shootings of eight people (six of which were women of Asian descent), nearly 1000 Asian-American business leaders have pledged $10 million to support Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities.

The Danger of the “Model Minority” Mythology

Asian American often women encounter a convoluted web of cultural myths that create a plateau in their career path. In one study of Asian American women who experienced discrimination, 34% reported that others assumed they were passive while 14% felt others viewed them as incapable of leadership.

The discrimination and bias faced by Asian Americans is often invalidated and made “invisible” due to being labeled as the model minority (due to having the highest educational achievements, highest median income, and one of the lowest crime rates) while actually being held back from the success of leadership and promotion. Not to mention blinding us to the reality that Asian-American women have been the hardest hit by Covid-19 job loss, with 44% out of work for six months or more.

The insidious impact of the harmful “model minority” mythology upon the Asian American community is that it’s both gaslighting and obscuring of the myriad discrimination and anti-Asian racism that very different groups of Asian American women actually face. Not only that, but it squeezes out room for the voices and diverse experiences of Asian Americans to be heard.

Aspects of the bamboo ceiling Asian American women confront include cultural ignorance and lack of ethnic discernment; the presumption of the perpetual foreigner; both imposed cultural stereotypes, as well as real cultural values and communication styles, that are at odds with Western masculine stereotypes of leadership; perceptions of hard working, discipline, intelligence and self-sacrificing that perpetuate an expectation of (quietly) carrying disproportionate quantities of work at a high performance standard; and racialized sexism/sexualized racism.

Yet when Asian American women do break prescriptive stereotypes to show assertiveness, they can be perceived as threatening and penalized in likability. Meanwhile, Hollywood has been no ally in challenging the stereotypes and simplistic tropes that Asian-American women are cast into, but rather reinforces them.

Speaking Up About Microaggressions

“In a workplace culture, racist acts usually play out as microaggressions—those small verbal or nonverbal slights, snubs, or insults. For example, being asked where you’re really from or being told that your English is really good assumes if you’re Asian, you’re foreign, and not a “real” American,” states Serena Fong, Vice President, Strategic Engagement, at Catalyst.

“Experiences of being invisible and forgotten surface through assumptions that because Asians are smart, quiet, and hardworking, they don’t experience racism at all,” Fong continues. “However, research shows that Asian Americans are the least likely group to be promoted to management positions, and Asian women hold the smallest share of total management positions in the US. Think about what’s conveyed when you say to an Asian colleague, particularly an Asian woman, you should “speak up more”, or “you’re so quiet”. Is that true or based on stereotypes?”

Microaggressions lower implicit self-esteem among Asian-Americans and induce stress, and when related to the “model minority” stereotype or perceived foreignness, are correlated with higher odds of poorer self-rated health. As part of AAPI Heritage month, the Los Angeles Times is currently polling to know strategies for countering microaggressions.

Fong advises, in her words, what not to do when you witness a microaggression:

  • Don’t act like you didn’t hear or see it. Racism is not going to go away if we ignore it. In fact, ignoring it can be seen as tacit agreement—and this failure to address it can add insult to injury.
  • Don’t make excuses. Explaining that somebody didn’t mean to be racist doesn’t make the remark or action any less hurtful or less racist. When somebody asks, “Where are you really from?” and isn’t challenged, their question reinforces stereotypes and perpetuates inaccurate information.
  • Don’t become immobilized. This happens more often than not; you witness something but are at a loss for what to say or do—and end up doing nothing.

Instead, Fong recommends:

  • Address the microaggression by responding with a non-judgmental observation or asking a thoughtful question. Doing so signals support for your colleagues and models inclusive behavior and courage to others. It may not be easy, but it’s worth it.
  • Talk to those involved. Doing so can break down stereotypes and provide comfort and support to the targets, particularly during such a scary time in the world. Check in with your colleagues to signal that you’re open to listening without putting the burden on them. If they don’t want to talk, be okay with that.

When it comes to disrupting the conscious or unconscious, not-so-small and harmful expressions of discrimination, we are all responsible. We do not need Asian American women to learn how to “speak up more.” We all need to be brave enough to speak up and out, more.

By: Aimee Hansen

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Asian American Women 2018: Often The Professional, Too Rarely The Executive

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Asian

Image via Shutterstock

By Aimee Hansen

When it comes to Asian American women in business leadership, the steady storyline is often the professional, less likely the manager, and rarely the executive.

Asian Americans make up 6% of the US population, 12% of U.S. professionals, and yet only 5% of executives, leaving them “stuck in the middle”.

On Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, Asians comprise even higher percentages of professionals, but a much smaller percentage of senior executives. They make up 26.9% of professionals at Goldman Sachs but only 10.7% of senior executives, 23.1% of professionals at Citigroup Inc. but only 12.7% of executives, and 20.6% at JP Morgan but only 6.8% of executives.

Buck Gee, a retired Cisco Systems Inc. vice president and co-author of a new report from the nonprofit Ascend Leadership, said in Bloomberg: “We are the most successful minority.” But when the lens turns to C-suites and upper management, “we’re the least successful minority.”

It’s not an education problem or a hiring problem, or necessarily even a pipeline problem. It is, however, cultural – largely, a corporate cultural issue.

The corporate-defined stereotypes of leadership (masculine, aggressive) and the intersection of gender and racial stereotypes through which Asian American women are perceived play at least as big of a role as the instilled cultural norms that may keep Asians from advocating for themselves as leaders, while trusting in hard work being enough to bring results.

Companies are called to practice inclusivity: leadership development and demonstration that bridges (not falls through) the cultural gaps to get diverse talent into leadership roles.

Stereotypes and “Model Minority”

Due to high education, professional employment and income levels, strong entrepreneurism, and the “model minority” reputation, Asian Americans are often overlooked when it comes to encouraging diversity.

But Asian American women face both “positive” and “negative” stereotypes – that may lead to envy, resentment, dislike, or perceived lack of leadership qualification – and can hinder organizational advancement. They face the intersectional discrimination of “racialized-sexism” and “sexualized-racism.” Even the seemingly positive reputation of “model minority” is a skewed and distorted box that inhibits advancement when it comes to leadership. And, studies have shown “that Asian Americans, like other minority groups, are aware of and may even internalize the stereotypes attributed to them.”

According to a qualitative study published in the Global Journal of Human-Social Science that tracked 16 Asian female middle managers, Asian women reported that they “sometimes benefited from the positive associations of their Asian ethnicity with qualities such as intelligence and diligence, and sometimes they face the demerits of being Asians, that reinforce a view of them being passive and lacking in leadership skills.”

According to the research, the experiences of these women were “complex and conflicting.” Some participants reported that they were able to seize opportunities for self-actualization, personal empowerment, and career growth “by leveraging their Asian culture,” but others talked about a subtle cultural disconnect that created barriers to networking, as well as to conforming with the norms of American corporate culture.

Meanwhile, when it comes to executive ambition, Asian women are “more likely than white women to say that their goal is to reach the top of their profession.”

Missing at Executive and Middle-Management

“The Illusion of Asian Success” report focusing on the San Francisco Bay area tech companies, by the Ascend Foundation, found that despite being the biggest professional racial cohort across 2007–2015, Asians were the least likely to be promoted to manager or executive level.

“Asians are still the least upwardly mobile demographic to reach leadership positions in (San Francisco) Bay Area technology companies,” state the authors. “The widely-held notion of Asian executive success is largely an illusion.”

The report found that while they are “outnumbered by Asian men and women in the entry-level professional workforce, white men and women were twice as likely as Asians to become executives and held almost 3x the number of executive jobs.”

Ascend previously created the Executive Parity Index™ (EPI) – which “scores a company’s diversity in its executive workforce relative to its entry-level workforce.” The report found that between 2007 and 2015, white women went from 12% below parity to 17% above in 2015, but all racial and ethnic minorities remained below parity.

Asian women were especially unlikely to become Executives – going from 76% below (.24 EPI) executive parity in 2007 to 66% below (.34 EPI) in 2015. Meanwhile, Asian men went from 44% below parity to 38% below parity.

Ascend also introduced a new Management Parity Index™ (MPI) to look at mid-level management representation. Asian women had the lowest MPI of .54 in 2007 (45% below parity) and .69 (31% below parity) in 2015.

“Asians were the only minority group underrepresented in middle management,” the authors were surprised to find. “We conclude that Asians were not only the least likely to be executives in 2015, but also the least likely to become Executives in the near future.”

While the executive gender gap for Asian women is only 85% with Asian men, the racial gap is 246% with white women. As white women were promoted, race became the increasingly dominant limiting factor – going from twice as big as sex in 2007 to three times as big in 2015.

The report co-author Denise Peck, a former vice president at Cisco, stated “Minority women continue to bump against a double-paned glass ceiling. The data show that a general focus on developing women leaders has not addressed the distinct challenges for Asian, Black, or Hispanic women. This has been an unspoken truth in the minority community, and we hope that our report opens a long overdue dialogue.”

Companies Need to Build a Cultural Bridge

In the LA Times, writers Ramakrishnan and Lee note how a few highly visible tech leaders can create a false perception of Asian prominence among leadership: “while Asian Americans can get through Silicon Valley’s doors, they are unable to move up the ladders.”
The article asserts that Asian Americans are often perceived as having more hard skills (competence) and fewer soft skills (communication, collaboration), but that there is a gap in soft skill development and demonstration opportunities for Asian professionals.

In the 2016 National Asian American Survey, 68% of white employees indicated planning or chairing a meeting at work, while only 51% of Asian American employees had done so, despite an equal percentage (40%) indicating they served in a supervisor capacity.

Again, the gap grew among women, as Asian American women were “25 percentage points less likely to chair a meeting when compared with white women.” The LA Times writers state, “One obvious, simple and costless solution is for employers to make sure that everyone who’s qualified gets an opportunity to lead a business meeting.”

During Bloomberg’s “Walk the Talk” feature on why so many Asian Americans are absent from the C-Suite, Laura Colby said “many Asian executives who I talk to will themselves say that they credit a bit of their upbringing for them not being as aggressive perhaps as might be considered necessary to show that you want to advance in Corporate America.”

Colby emphasized, however, that companies have to be more inclusive to bridge exactly these cultural nuances: “There are some programs out there, but several of the people I spoke with said you really have to make a point of engaging all the groups in a corporation, not focus on a specific group, or blame people for their own lack of being able to climb the ladder when really it might be the ladder itself that is tilted and preventing them from getting where they want to get.”

Sometimes, it’s the ladder that is broken, or too narrow, or too weak, or too rigid, to allow change to climb as high as it needs to.

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