As Asian Americans continue to climb the corporate ladders, something continues to prevent them from breaking through to the top.

By Harsh Vathsangam

The bamboo ceiling has made the promotion of APAs to senior managerial roles at top companies a rare occurrence. Art: Margaret To.

Stereotypically Asian Pacific Americans are known to enter careers as meticulous engineers, life-saving doctors, and mad scientists. But how many Asians become CEOs?

Although Asians make up only 5 percent of the U.S. population, according to a study by the Center for Work-Life Policy, they’re highly represented at some of the most prestigious universities, making up between 15 and 25 percent of Ivy League enrollment.

Yet the impressive credentials and achievements that have caused them to be dubbed “the model minority” aren’t reflected in senior leadership positions.

Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc., recently released a report that stated Asian Americans constitute only 2 percent of board members in Fortune 500 companies, and within these companies there are only nine Asian American CEOs.

The numbers point to a phenomenon known as “The Bamboo Ceiling,” a term that refers to the fact that while Asian Americans find no problem in acquiring prestigious academic degrees, they find it difficult to take the next step up and into senior managerial roles at top companies.

Why can’t Asians break through that bamboo ceiling? It’s certainly not for lack of interest. The CWLP researchers found that 64 percent of Asians compared to 52 percent of their Caucasian counterparts aspire to hold top seats at a company.

Asian family values have stressed hard work, avoiding confrontation, and humble respectfulness. Although these characteristics are positive on their own, these cultural values don’t necessarily match up with success in the cutthroat corporate world.

A popular argument is that these very same characteristics that put Asians on the top of college admissions stacks can work against them when gaining a foothold in corporate America. With these values as the cornerstones of their academic successes, thoughts such as putting one’s ideas forward in meetings, self-promotion, or taking credit for achievements end up being alien concepts.

The result? Often, silence is mistaken for arrogance and unwillingness.

A reason could be lack of mentorship. The CWLP study also found that only 46 percent of Asians say they have a mentor in their professional life compared to more than 60 percent of Caucasians. You can find strategies to help with breaking the bamboo ceiling here.

Another possible cause is that Asian culture places emphasis on eldercare, an activity that could for better or worse take time away from career advancement.

Taking a look at the issue from another perspective reveals more. There are now 61 Chinese and eight Indian companies in the Fortune 500.

With that said, companies with a largely Asian top brass are steadily rising up the rankings and making their presence felt. These numbers are only slated to increase. Conversely, according to Fortune magazine, the number of American companies on this list has been declining from 197 in 2002 to 133 in 2011.

I find myself asking how is it that these companies with Asian CEOs who have the similar cultural values are thriving. But, there is a key difference. It is important to note the distinction between Asians working in Asian companies and Asian Americans working in U.S. companies.

Thus, I argue that it has more to do with the clashing of cultures than any innate inability to perform. Asian Americans need to understand these significant cultural differences and recognize the corporate atmosphere in which they operate if they hope to break through the bamboo ceiling.

Or perhaps we should all book one-way tickets to corporate Asia?

Related Stories —

Science: Breaking through the “bamboo ceiling” for Asian American scientists

NPR: Looking at the ‘bamboo ceiling’

Cornell Chronicle Online: Model minority? A ‘myth of the American dream,’ says panelist at Asian American discussion

Inside Higher Ed: ‘The Myth of the Model Minority’

By Andrew Dang

Staff artist Andrew Dang illustrates different paths by which APA students come to choose majors and later careers.

How does your own journey compare? Was there a Tiger Mom in your midst or were your choices driven by childhood passions? Share your story with us by leaving a comment below.

Most people picture the American Dream as a house surrounded by a white picket fence. For APAs, however, the American Dream is something quite different.

By Tiffany Banh

For most people, the American Dream is summed up in three words: freedom, opportunity and prosperity. The premise remains constant for APAs, but their American dream focuses more on the journey towards success. With little family history in the United States, APAs tend towards ambitious goals as they try to accomplish more in the time that they are given. Their goals range from providing themselves with better futures to moving up the socioeconomic ladder as they make names for themselves in America. In the end, APAs create their own American dream as a measure of success.

APA students from USC describe how they see the American dream:

The journey to success is an important aspect of the American dream for APAs. Photo: Flickr.

1. Jessica Liou, sophomore: “I think the American Dream is an expectation that you strive to make a reality when you immigrate to America. The expectation is that you have a plethora of opportunities to make a better life and living for your family and yourself.”
2. Christopher Liu, junior: “I think the American Dream is having the freedom and ability to achieve anything you want to achieve.”
3. Johnny Jung, sophomore: “The American Dream is the idea that all Americans, given a great deal of initiative and effort, can achieve and experience all the opportunities that America (the world) has to offer. However, in reality, the American Dream proves to be a ‘myth of meritocracy,’ as the ideal never quite meets the realities of America’s social systems.”
4. Andrew Ju, sophomore: “[The American Dream is the idea] that anyone can achieve any measure of success regardless of how little they start with as long as they seek opportunities, work hard, and don’t give up. The sky’s the limit because America is the land of equality and opportunity. [The dream was] designed originally for people with little opportunities and resources.”
5. Jonathan So, sophomore: “[The American Dream] is the notion that anybody can change the conditions of their life and bring themselves up the socioeconomic ladder based purely off of hard work. My family came pursuing the notion of the American Dream, and they have been successful in doing so. I think that it has affected me in my upbringing, but I believe it’s a notion that’s a little bit naïve to take in. Social factors and issues, as well as political greed, play into the fact that it’s merely an unreachable dream for many individuals.”

Thoughts or opinions on (Asian Pacific) American dream? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below.

Many APA parents are reluctant to let their children pursue majors in the humanities. They claim that the liberal arts are not a worthwhile way to spend four years of time and tuition. 

By Jennie Zhang

However, an increasing amount of APA college students are becoming humanities majors, and many face the same struggles: is breaking out of the “Asian” mold and defying their parents’ wishes worth pursuing their passions? Are their parents correct when they say that humanities majors have a severe disadvantage in the job market? USC student Yuan Tao hopes to bring these issues to light with her new club AASHA, which targets APAs in the humanities.

USC seniors Yuan Tao and Alex Norby fasten flyers to ramen packages for an AASHA tabling event. Photo: David Hong.

The traditional and often stereotyped road to success for Asians is paved by the pursuit of the sciences, mathematics, engineering, accounting and other quantitative majors that Asian parents either studied themselves or associate with financial stability.

Many APA students admit defeat early on. If their parents are willing to shell out $50,000 a year for college in order to secure a lifetime of happiness for their children, a rough or boring four years is the least they could do to satisfy their parents’ wishes while ensuring a stable future.

Yuan Tao, founder and president of Asian-Americans in the Humanities and Arts (AASHA), disagrees.

Tao, a senior majoring in English, entered USC through the prestigious Baccalaureate/M.D. Program. As part of this program, Tao was guaranteed acceptance to USC’s Keck School of Medicine after college.

She reluctantly matched the pre-medicine track she was on with a major in the biological sciences.

From her first semester, Tao found that she was much less engaged in her science classes than she was in her Thematic Option (TO) honors course, where she was taught by an esteemed English professor and surrounded by peers with similar literary interests.

Tao attributes her longing to study English to not only the class itself, but also to the void she felt when her class ended. “I had no place to do what I was passionate about,” said Tao.

Her TO classes were rare opportunities, exclusive to her experience at USC, where Tao felt she could connect with other humanities-inclined students.

At first, not many of Tao’s friends or family understood her desires.

She said, “I feel like growing up in an Asian American community makes it hard to meet someone who loves literature because most of us are focused on science, business, and other practical career paths.”

USC cultivates a predominantly pre-professional undergraduate community, with approximately one third of the undergraduate population in the business school. Consequently, the decision to major solely in the humanities often raises some eyebrows, especially amongst those from APA backgrounds.

Despite the disparity in the number of APAs in professional curriculums versus the number of APAs pursuing degrees in the liberal arts, many APAs are starting to see that college is the time to explore their interests.

More students are having experiences similar to Tao’s: leaving sheltered homes with their eyes on a solid pre-professional education and stable career, but discovering their true passions after experiencing engaging college classes and meeting compelling professors.

Many APAs ignore this discovery aspect of the typical American college experience because their cultural norms focus on success rather than enjoyment, even when enjoyment of the humanities can lead to success.

Soon, Tao met a few classmates with similar cultural backgrounds and academic situations. She realized that many APAs were potentially interested in pursuing careers in the humanities, but most were either nervous or felt restricted by their parents.

Tao said, “AASHA creates a safe space for people who are going through challenges in pursuing their passion in the arts and humanities.”

She emphasized that AASHA does not pressure students to study humanities but gives support and information to anyone who needs help in making the decision.

AASHA highlights the skills that liberal arts majors develop in critical and analytical thinking.

“To actually develop your analytical intellect, you have to pursue what fits how your mind analyzes things. That is science for some people, and that’s great for them, but for those who don’t fit in that way, they improve much better from staying true to who they are,” said Tao.

Despite her difficult struggle and the critics in her community, Tao convinced her parents and close friends of why she was so adamant about pursuing her love for literature.  They ultimately supported her difficult decision to leave the Baccalaureate/M.D. program and to become an English major.

While this experience was both hard and rewarding, Tao hopes AASHA can help other APA students reach a similar happy ending.

Related Stories —

Mochi Magazine: How I broke free of the Asian stereotype in college

The New York Times: Report challenges Asian-American college stereotypes