Bamboo ceiling

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The term "bamboo ceiling"was coined in Author Jane Hyun's book, Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians which was released in 2005. It is defined as a combination of individual, cultural, and organizational factors that impede Asian Americans’ career progress inside organizations. The research was based on hundreds of in-depth interviews with executives in a variety of Fortune 500 companies and based on Author's practical consulting experience. Since then, a variety of sectors (including nonprofits, universities, the government) have discussed the impact of the ceiling as it relates to Asians and the challenges they face.

It refers to the processes and barriers that serve to exclude Asians, Pacific Islanders, and people of Asian descent from executive positions on the basis of subjective factors such as “lack of leadership potential” and “lack of communication skills” that cannot actually be explained by job performance or qualifications.^[1] It describes the subtler forms of racism and negative stereotyping of Asians and Pacific Islanders that exist in the workforce today. Fisher refers to the bamboo ceiling again in a follow up article in Crains and Fortune New York in 2011. http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/blogs/executive-inbox/2011/11/training-executives-to-think-globally/ http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/10/07/asian-americans-promotion-us-companies/ Another article released by the Atlantic focus on people's views and opinions of a dominant asian co-worker in the workplace and it shows how people want them to "stay in their place" rather than be the boss and that they're more dislike by said possibly could be co-workers than by white co-workers. http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/05/theres-a-bamboo-ceiling-for-would-be-asian-leaders/257135/ The term is a derivative of the glass ceiling, which refers to the more gendered metaphor used to describe invisible barriers through which women and minorities can see managerial positions, but cannot reach them.

The bamboo ceiling in the US

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited discrimination on the basis of race. However, covert forms of racism persist in the workforce. The Census Bureau reports that Asian-Americans have the highest education levels of any racial category in the United States. Of Asian-Americans, 52.4% are college graduates, while the national average is 29.9%.^[2] The Asian-American population accounts for about 4.8% of the U.S. population,^[3] but only 0.3% of corporate office populations.^[4] Even in fields where Asian-Americans are highly represented, such as the Silicon Valley software industry, they comprise a disproportionately small percentage of upper management and board positions.^[1]

The bamboo ceiling in the United States is a subtle and complex form of discrimination, as the umbrella term “Asian-American” extends to include a number of diverse groups, including South Asians, East Asians, Southeast Asians, and Pacific Islanders. These groups are often subject to “model minority” stereotypes, and viewed as quiet, hardworking, family-oriented, high achieving in math and science, as well and passive, nonconfrontational, and antisocial.^[5] In the workforce, some of these perceptions may seem positive in the short-term, but in the long-term they impede progression up the corporate and academic ladders.

While Asian-Americans are often viewed as a “model minority” race, many feel that they are an invisible or “forgotten minority,” despite being one of the fastest growing groups in the country. Because they are generally considered ineligible for many of the minority rights of under-represented races, and Asian-Americans have been shown to be less likely to report incidents of racial discrimination in the workplace, there are few institutional avenues and programs for them to combat these labels and perceptions.^[6]

Causes and effects

Some analysts attribute the racial disparity in administrative capacities to negative extensions of the aforementioned stereotypes of Asian-Americans, such as common assumptions that they are “lacking in leadership skills” or that they have “poor communication abilities.”^[7] Asian-Americans are also sometimes expected to have higher qualifications than their white counterparts, such as graduating from more prestigious universities, to achieve the same positions in American companies.^[4][7]

Many of these stereotypes and expectations have a basis in cultural misunderstandings. Some Asian-Americans claim that they are raised with culture-specific values that affect perceptions of their workplace behavior. For example, some report being taught from an early age to be self-effacing, reticent, respectful, and deferential towards authority.^[1][7] These values do not translate well into the American workplace, where Asian-Americans are sometimes perceived as aloof, arrogant, and inattentive.^[1] As a result, Asian-Americans are less likely to be seen as having qualities that appeal to American employers, such as leadership, charisma, creativity, and risk-taking, and are often passed over for promotions in spite of satisfactory job performance. Asian-Americans are also less likely to aggressively network, self-promote, and speak up at work meetings with concern and ideas when compared to their coworkers.^[1]

Others indicate that physical characteristics are a factor. Studies have shown that taller individuals tend to be promoted and earn more money than shorter individuals, and the average Asian-American height is shorter than the national average. Some also report that Asian facial characteristics are unconsciously perceived as less expressive, less engaged and interested, and less trustworthy. These factors, combined with the common stereotypes and portrayals of Asian-Americans as “nerds” and “geeks”, with high math aptitude, creates an image of Asian males in particular as “[s]hort, not good-looking, socially inept, sexually null.”^[7] Furthermore, even Asian-Americans born and raised in the United States are sometimes assumed to be less English-proficient on the basis of their appearance as “perpetual foreigners.”

Another factor may be an existing lack of connections and Asian-Americans role models in upper management and in politics. Until relatively recently with the Civil Rights Movement, a large number of individuals of Asian descent had few political and social rights, or were denied rights of citizenship by naturalization. While many Asian-Americans are active in political life and government positions today, their representation is still disproportionately small, and there remain unofficial barriers to political access.^[8]

Sticky floor

Another commonly cited barrier, complementary to the bamboo ceiling, is the "sticky floor." When applied to the Asian-American experience, the sticky floor refers to the phenomenon by which young professionals of Asian descent are often trapped in low-level, low-mobility jobs.^[6] Asian-Americans graduate from universities in high numbers, and firms tend to hire them in high numbers as well. However, within a few years, many claim to find themselves pigeonholed into dead-end careers with no path for advancement to upper-level corporate careers.^[7] This process is visible across a number of fields, including business,^[1] academia,^[5] and law.^[7] Even in areas where Asian-Americans are believed to excel, such as software engineering, there is an overall tendency to see them assigned to low-ranking positions with fewer opportunities for advancement compared to other racial groups.

Breaking the bamboo ceiling

The bamboo ceiling is a generally socially recognized phenomenon, and a number of different methods have been suggested as means of helping to address the issue. Some suggest that Asian-Americans make stronger attempts to overcome negative stereotypes through “self-awareness.”^[4] This involves going out of one’s way to network and interact with others, making oneself visible by taking pride and credit in one’s work, and commanding leadership roles and proposing new ideas in the workplace.^[1][4] Some companies also have leadership programs designed for Asian-Americans to cultivate skills and help translate values across cultures.

References

External links

Looking At The 'Bamboo Ceiling' http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/10/07/asian-americans-promotion-us-companies/

http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/10/07/asian-americans-promotion-us-companies/

http://mycrains.crainsnewyork.com/blogs/executive-inbox/2011/11/training-executives-to-think-globally/