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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Is the Glass Ceiling Cracking?
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:09:49 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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Discussions posted during the past year remain available for browsing.
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
AM Exec
How well you read me...patience is not really one of my virtues. I'm one of those chicks who rip to shreds the carefully wrapped presents (without even admiring how pretty the outside looks first) just to get to the present itself. I have no patience for imbeciles, slackers, flakes, or habitual liars either. It makes for a pretty lousy manager-material, but I'm still young, I'll learn, I'm sure, the politics of how to muddle along... eventually.
And would the sudden attrition of positions at the top have anything to do with the age of retirement? Most folks up that high are about ready to leave the workforce and go play golf or something. I am now hip-deep within the first five years, and believe me, it's sooooooooooooo NO FUN! Work is hard and the constant demands on my time gives me no time to have a life. I need a life! You see, men can afford to climb the work ladder until they're 38, but for women, that's OK only if you don't want any kids and any husband (read OLD MAID). I cannot afford to do this for another ten years to get into that clique of upper-management. What's your advice for me here, Mr. Executive?
MLK
Friday, April 26, 2002 at 19:58:37 (PDT)
AM Exec:
"I do believe that if you combine character with talent and hard work, the racial aspect becomes a trivial part of what they see."
You forgot to mention luck. I do commend you for your success...it refreshing to hear stories like that. However, some companies are not as 'fair' as yours. The question AA should be asking is not 'will they see my talent' (I believe most will, if you're capable) but rather 'will I be climbing the corporate ladder if I prove my ablities?'
be
Friday, April 26, 2002 at 14:56:19 (PDT)
AM Exec,
Well sounds great. Hope you too will have an opportunity to help another deserving asian to climb the corporate ranks in your firm.
AC Dropout
Friday, April 26, 2002 at 11:42:32 (PDT)
MLK,
I am 38. Most of our top execs are in their 50s.
The funny thing about the corporate world is that the climbing doesn't come evenly. It's been my experience that it feels very very slow during the first five to ten years, but after you've proven yourself as management material, it can happen very quickly, too quickly at times. Any big company is very hungry for management talent, especially if she brings new blood. It will embrace you quickly into the inner sanctum beyond a certain point. Also, there's a lot of sudden, unexpected attrition in the top ranks which create voids that need to be filled quickly. There are a lot of messy personal situations that seem to knock people out of the picture fairly regularly.
So, no, you will likely make it up there way before your 90 if you just show some initiative, patience and a bit of warmth for the culture of your companny. You sound like you can muster these qualities, judging by your posts (except maybe the patience -- I'm not sure about that one...)
AC Dropout,
That's a good question. Of course it's one I can never answer for sure. I would like to think so, but I just can't say. The treatment I received was quite extraordinary because I really busted butt those first ten years. I don't know if I could make that kind of push again. I was also helped along because one of the top managers took a liking to me and was consistently pulling for me. He passed away some time ago, but he was a well-liked individual and he saw something in me that must have reminded him of himself. The corporate world has gotten a bad rap from some Asians because of the prejdice that runs rampant in some quarters I'm sure, but I do believe that if you combine character with talent and hard work, the racial aspect becomes a trivial part of what they see.
Of course that still doesn't answer your question of how I would have done if I had been mediocre. I know a lot of white managers who have been treated not so well, and many left fairly early on. I guess we can assume an Asian of average talent woun't have been treated any better.
AM Exec
Thursday, April 25, 2002 at 19:45:49 (PDT)
to AM exec
"...I will be about 13 years younger than the average age of the other top execs in the company."
How old are you...thirty-ish? Most execs I know are about forty-five or fifty. I'm sure I'll have to wait till I'm over ninety to make exec the way I'm climbing the wrong way going up, that downward-moving escalator . heehehe. I'll let you know when I've made it to the top (of the glass ceiling midway up the escalator that's gently moseying on down into the floor).
MLK
Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 17:12:23 (PDT)
AM Exec,
Reading your post you sound like an above average guy who deserves your position. However, do you think you would have gotten your promotion if you only performed as well as the average white exec in your company?
AC Dropout
Wednesday, April 24, 2002 at 16:06:41 (PDT)
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