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 Anne Su

The Korean Air office on Wilshire Boulevard is part of the Wilshire Grand Hotel. Korean Air Lines Co. announced in 2009 its plans to demolish the hotel and build a high-rise office in its place. Photo: Korean Slate

K-pop and kimchi tacos aren’t the only bits of Korean culture in the United States: South Korean businesses are stepping up and investing in a rich, multicultural city like Los Angeles.

Korean Air Lines Co. is constructing a hotel, office and retail complex valued at $1 billion on the site of the Wilshire Grand Hotel. Hyundai Motor Co. recently invested $150 million to upgrade its Orange County facilities.

Annually, small- and midsize Korean companies are contributing to the tens of millions of dollars that flow into the Southern California economy. This is the latest trend of Korean investors wishing to traverse the cultural bridge that joins Los Angeles and Seoul.

According to California Watch, there are more than half a million South Koreans with strong business ties to their home country in the Los Angeles area. Almost $16 billion worth of goods were traded between South Korean and Southland ports in 2009.

“With its juggernaut export economy, South Korea is flush with cash. Its trade surplus for July 2010 was $5.6 billion. And some of that money is coming to California,” said Edward Park, a sociologist at Loyola Marymount University specializing in Asian American studies, to the Los Angeles Times.

The growth of South Korean businesses stems not only from efforts by the local and state governments of California but also by U.S. immigration policy. Beginning in 2008, the federal government no longer demanded visas from visiting South Korean citizens, thus giving a boost to South Korean investments.

Analysts point out that it is more likely that foreign investors send initial cash outlays to places with a personal or cultural connection.

Only recently did  South Korea amend its law of foreign investments on high technology businesses. Besides small- to middle-sized businesses seeking opportunities, all kinds of Korean capital venture funds are interested in biotech and high-tech partnerships in California.

On January 24, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched a lobbying campaign for a U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement in Los Angeles. Southern California undoubtedly would be the major beneficiary. This would be further encouragement from the U.S. to increase trading and establish deeper bonds with South Korea.

By Ivana Banh

Jinro: The Korean liquor is the top liquor in the world, selling 72 million cases per year. Photo: taishi, Flickr

China boasts the largest beer market in the world, and India’s alcohol industry experiences a 15 percent growth each year. Asian liquors, such as TsingTao and Huarun Snow, continue to outnumber American brands like Budweiser in sales. Alcohol is astonishingly prevalent in Asian cultures. The Asian population’s consumption of alcohol has been consistently increasing, even in the global recession. But alcohol is more than just a leisurely activity in Asian cultures – it’s also a practical way of doing business.

We’re used to seeing “The Hangover”-esque humor of blurry nights, as in “Daytime Drinking,” a south Korean film that explores the significant role that drinking plays in Asian society. “Daytime Drinking” tells the story of a young Korean man, Hyuk-jin, played by Sam-dong Song. After Hyuk-Jin breaks up with his girlfriend, he numbs his broken heart with a night of alcohol, friends and games. He has a night that will remain in his memory forever – well, at least the part that he remembers. It’s an all-too-familiar blur of a large consumption of alcohol, a multitude of mysterious women, and unexplainable misfortunes.

Alcohol is often associated with a night of wild fun like that of Hyuk-Jin’s and “The Hangover” gang’s, but it provides a different service for Asians. Drinking goes hand-in-hand with business meetings and dinners in Asia. Other cultures may perceive the use of alcohol as a deceptive means to complete business interactions, but for Asians, it is simply a must. Growing up, I was used to seeing bottles of sake and Heineken at the dinner table when my father was closing a business deal, along with contracts and paperwork.

“It [drinking] can promote a false sense of bonding and skew judgment.”
Jimmy Liu, USC freshman

Jimmy Liu, a freshman at USC and a member of the business fraternity Delta sigma Pi, said that “it [drinking] can promote a false sense of bonding and skew judgment,” which may explain the abundant use of alcohol in settling business deals.

Sang Kyung, also a freshman and DSP member, agreed with Liu, and said, “Without alcohol is the way business should be done.”

Despite both Liu’s and Kyung’s acknowledgement of the negative impact of alcohol consumption, they also point out that drinking is essential in Asia. Kyung confirms that drinking is the key to success there, especially in Korea, where “drinking is a common way to do business,” a “social practice.”

Liu sees eye-to-eye with Kyung, observing that “it is part of the culture and shouldn’t be changed.”

How different would my father’s business dinners be without a warm bottle of sake accompanying the sushi dinner? Drinking is just as important to Asian cultures as barbeques are to the American lifestyle: they both act as way to bring families and friends together.