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GOLDSEA |
ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
IS THE GLASS CEILING CRACKING?
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:09:51 PM)
sian Americans are nearly twice as likely as Whites (55% vs 29%) to graduate from college. For the past decade Asians have outnumbered Whites at UC Berkeley (40% vs 36%), UCLA (41% vs 37%), UC Irvine (56% vs 27%) and UC Riverside (55% vs 27%). Asians also collectively make up 28% of the enrollment at top 20 business schools. AA comprise 60% of Silicon Valley's professional and technical workforce.
The one area in which Asian Americans have traditionally been underrepresented is the corporate executive suite. Everyone has heard of Charles Wang, founder/chairman of Computer Associates, Jerry Yang, founder/co-chief Yahoo of Yahoo! and a half dozen other AA success stories. But they are the founders of the companies they head up.
Looking at the Fortune 1000, Asian Americans account for barely 1.5% of top executives, a third of our representation in the general population and far less than what one might expect from our success in college and professional schools. The only visible AA CEO of a top 50 corporation is Avon's Andrea Jung.
Undoutedly many factors contribute to Asian underrepresentation in the executive suites of American companies. The most frequently cited include the collective youth and inexperience of Asians in management positions, difficulty of fitting into the corporate cultures of old-line companies, propensity for leaving to work on startups, higher concentrations in technical fields and language deficiencies. Then of course there's the factor many suspect but few have been able to prove: racial stereotypes and prejudices.
Is the underrepresentation merely the product of benign sociological factors or is there still a glass celiing that keeps Asians from climbing above middle and lower management?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
be,
You don't have to be white to get promoted. You just got to fight harder than the white guy or girl to get the promotion.
Since you want to keep you integrity, we don't need to discuss the sleeping-to-the-top strategy. The other common archtype will be ball-busting your way to the top.
By providing work that exceed the expectation of your supervisor is like a double edge sword. Sure you will get their attention. But have you made the proper political allies, so that if your supervisor is threatened by your work, you will be immune to an back-lash or back handed compliments.
Without knowing the details, I cannot say if your accomplishment was precieved as "glory hogging" and not enough credit sharing went around, especially to your direct supervisor.
So what does the political landscape look like in your firm? How are your reviews going for you?
Racial/gender discrimation, or less inflamatory "bias," is a given in a corporate environment. Because $$$ is on the line. If your firm believes (no matter how groundless) that gender/race will affect their bottom line (positive or negative), they will act on it.
AC Dropout
Thursday, March 07, 2002 at 13:15:26 (PST)
I didnt realize all the complexity involved in climbing the corporate ladder for a young asian female, until recently. there definitely is a glass ceiling for asians..and being female only makes it more difficult. i'm 24 years old...and have only been working for 2 years now. i dont know if it is a blessing that i've experience injustice at such a young age...but i do know it was a good learning lesson, and i can only hope to grow from it.
i am an immensely ambitious and hardworking individual...and this is evident in my work. i think there are factors that have affected the companies decision to let me go, but unfortunately none of those were related to my work performance. i feel it was difficult for the company to tolerate a young asian female voicing opinions. i can confidently say this, b/c the company has a history of doing this. my biggest mistake was thinking i would be the one exception, b/c i provided the company with more than they had ever expected. i strongly believe if i was a white male...not only would it not be an issue, but i would be promoted.
my question to all of you is...how do i prevent myself from becoming another victim of gender and racial discrimination? i refuse to give up my dreams, and i want to maintain my integrity w/o conforming to others beliefs.
be
Saturday, March 02, 2002 at 11:11:05 (PST)
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