Excited
Do you Asian Americans suffer from stereotypes in the business world? Of course we do. I think so, even if it is subtle. After attending business school, I joined a Silicon Valley software company as a product manager and attended a lot of trade shows during my first year (just as the tech boom became a bust). Inevitably, people would ask me at the show booth or in meetings, if I was an engineer on the product and I would have to correct their presumption that I was in fact, a product manager (though I did used to be a mechanical design engineer in the aerospace industry.) I found this an odd question, since most companies did not bring any engineers to any of the trade shows (business travel was something new to me prior to becoming a product manager). Quiet, non-confrontational, back office software engineers is what I think most Silicon Valley folks perceive Asian Americans to be. But we can and are much more – but may be brainwashed to think otherwise. I’ve blogged before about the an Asian glass ceiling.
I came across this interesting study last week in the Journal of Applied Psychology titled, “The White standard: Racial bias in leader categorization” as announced in this Duke University News release: Study: Americans Expect Business Leaders to Be White:
“The participants consistently assumed the leaders to be white when the race was not disclosed, even when the racial composition of the existing leaders in the organizations were described as 80 percent African American, 80 percent Hispanic American or 80 percent Asian American. Yet, this same presumption of “whiteness” was not observed when the participants assessed non-leaders…The researchers found no relation between the study participants’ race and their impressions of the leaders’ race. Participants who identified themselves as racial minorities assumed the leader to be white as often as the white participants. In experiments where the leader’s race was identified, white leaders were evaluated to be a better match with traditional leader expectations, such as successful performances, than were racial minorities. Participants who were told that a leader was responsible for the organization’s success and then asked to rate that leader’s effectiveness judged white leaders to be more effective than minority leaders who had achieved the same level of success. “Our results challenge a common explanation for racial bias –- that people who are white give preferential treatment to other people who are white,” Leonardelli said. “Our finding that Americans of all races associate successful leadership with being white demonstrates just how embedded this bias can be.”"
Even minorities assumed that leaders were white and judged them to perform better than non-white leaders.
We all have an unconscious bias that leaders should be white. You’ve probably heard that there is a bias towards taller people for promotion and leadership positions, as well as often jokingly those with “good hair.” This has always been a very “Dilbert”-esque point, as the cartoonist Scott Adams has noted in his comic strip, books as well as blog posting, like in his blog posting: Looks Are Destiny:
“Hair and height are great predictors of future careers. If you’re a guy with a good head of hair, and you’re over 6’4”, you’ll probably have a career in upper management. The universe will also allow you to be an entrepreneur, lawyer, or doctor. You are not allowed to work in a toll booth.”
However satirical Scott Adams may be, there have been many scientific studies on this very subject, including a University of Florida study, as well as this older Journal of Applied Psychology (June 2004) published study, “The Effect of Physical Height on Workplace Success and Income: Preliminary Test of a Theoretical Model.” In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell says that 30% of Fortune 500 CEOs are 6-foot-2 and taller (vs. just 4% of all men). And even presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has commented that Asians are not tall. So where does this put Asians and Asian Americans in business? According to the Committee of 100 (a national non-partisan organization composed of American citizens of Chinese descent), in their 2007 Corporate Board Report Card:
“Asian and APAs currently hold 1.5% of corporate board seats among Fortune 500 companies, a modest increase from 1.2% in 2005. 81 Fortune 500 board seats were held in 2006 by 69 Asian/APA directors, an increase from 56 in 2005. The percentage of Fortune 500 companies with at least one Asian or APA director increased to 15% in 2006 from 11% in 2005.”
In a recent BusinessWeek article (7/21/08), “For Corporate Boards, a Global Search,” – “Western companies, especially tech multinationals like SAP and Nokia, have begun looking to Asia’s emerging markets for their next board leaders.” Hiring and grooming Asian Americans with the business, language fluency and bi-cultural understanding makes sense and is good for the bottom line. Too bad we’re not white nor tall?
The White Man’s Burden should no longer be tolerated in the corporate world today, and it is nice to see increasing corporate leadership being represented by non-white males. Obviously, the study shows we still have a long ways to go that even if Asian Americans and other minorities still expect that our business leaders be white.
As much as I love Steve Carell in The Office, the show often reminds myself of the realities of the corporate world and why I, as well as many others often ask ourselves – yourself included, “How did the boss, manager, VP, or CEO ever get to where he is today?”… Maybe we’ve answered part of the question today – he looked the part.
How does this post make you feel?
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
NOTE: 8Asians.com is a community, and we thank you for being a part of it. While we welcome and appreciate differences in opinion, if you're rude or you're promoting spam, we have a right to edit or delete your comment. Read our comment policy for more information.
If you see a comment that violates the 8Asians.com comment policy, you may flag the comment by mousing over the comment and clicking "FLAG."
Boogerhead
I think that if you are truly an idiot, your white male appearance will not save you from getting fired.
But I do think that a lot of Asians look good on paper but may be missing something socially and then they blame racism for not getting as far ahead as they would like. When I was at an undergrad business school, I can say I met people who would definitely end up getting promoted in their first jobs. Not all of them had top grades but they had top personalities: 3 Chinese girls, 6 Chinese/Korean guys, 3 White Girls and more White/Jewish guys and a few Black students but I didn't see them that much. I credit their parents and their own natural personalities. I think the white ones really stood out. Two of the Asian males grew up pretty white and one of the Chinese girls grew up in an all white situation but her home life was very Hong Kong. I learned that it's who you are on the inside and people are simply born with different capability levels. All the money, tutoring, plastic surgery can't create what isn't already there. So when I remember those Alpha personalities, I think that this study isn't such a problem for me. That in the end the Olympic medal goes to the person who can do the best, How you look is only good for the first second,
Trackbacks
Custom Search
Recent Posts
- Is Kim Jong Un Dead? Assassination Rumors Hit the Internet
- Help Fight Stereoptypes With Asian Crew Clothing
- Deftones’ Chi Cheng Wakes Up From His 3-Year Coma
- SXSW 2012 Has a Nice Handful of Asian Movies
- Woman In China Gives Birth To 15 Lb Baby
- Naruto & Dragonball Now Available On Barnes & Noble Nook
- Kisai Rogue KR2 LED Watch
Recent Comments
- : Good luck! Hope things work out. – Behind The Scenes With Team Janet & A Call To Help Janet Find Her Match
- : I think due to the political sensitivities and how prominent many Chinese have become involved in American institutions (and in several ways, vice versa), Pete... – Pete Hoekstra's Offensive Anti-Asian Super Bowl Ad
- : @itzagudwun I was going to drop the discussion but let me ask you a question. What exactly am I stereotyping about Asian parents? Is is... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : Great article again, Tim. I'm actually very surprised in hearing the findings. I knew that Asian Americans were less likely to carry credit card debt... – Asian Americans Have Mixed Results In Retirement Study
- : Rock-on, Steven. Judging from the segment, I find this female host to be less of an attention-whore than Olivia Munn. Moar female hosts like this,... – Steven Yeun Talks About The Walking Dead Season 2.5 & Tries A Bacon Milkshake
APA Events
Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
Feb 16: (New York, NY) Amar Chitra Katha: Monica Ferrell, Chitra Ganesh, Keshni Kashyap, and Himanshu “Heems” Suri of Das Racist
Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons
Feb 18: (Stanford, CA) Stanford’s 16th Listen to the Silence Conference- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
Feb 25: (Los Angeles, CA) Past Present I Future Imperatives: Queer Space Time
Mar 3: (New York, NY) Vong Pak’s ‘Electric Shaman’ Concert
Apr 30: (Sacramento, CA) California Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit 2012: iAdvocate
Staff and Contributors
- Editors
- Ernie Hsiung - Founder, Editor-in-Chief
- Moye Ishimoto - Co-Editor, Editorial
- Joz Wang - Co-Editor, PR & APA Outreach
[...] 4% of all men).” More information about unconscious biases related to business positions are here, including that leaders are White, held by both White folk and non-White folk. Another post by the ever insightful Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert) highlights the same issue [...]
[...] Most would agree that men prefer women who are shorter than themselves and women prefer men who are taller than themselves, but to say that height alone is the sole determining primary factor for interracial marriage imbalances between men and women is simplistic — I’d like to think that humans are more evolved than our predecessors. That said, studies exist in regards to height and their relationship to management material. [...]
[...] States was decided, which validated the United States government of interning Japanese Americans. Cobert’s comments also reminded me of an earlier posting of mine where all Americans, including Asian Americans, subconsciously expect business leaders to be white. [...]
[...] Perhaps the model for governing and leadership all along has been wrong, or can other styles or expectations of leadership be successful, even if they are not what is “standard” or sta…. In the age of Fox News and MSNBC and personalities of Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann, its seems [...]
[...] 8Asians, we’ve blogged about Where Are the Asian CEOs? , how Americans Expect Business Leaders to Be White, as well as the “bamboo ceiling.” I recently read that now Stanford University’s [...]
[...] while ago, I had blogged about how Americans expect their business leaders to be white. When you are a Caucasian male in China, you definitely stand out as a foreigner and probably [...]
[...] your college admissions and future potential is dependent on a college entrance exam. Personally, I think growing up white and tall would have probably helped a whole lot more professionally than having attended an Ivy League [...]
[...] under difficult life circumstances. You can catch the full episode here. It’s nice to see an Asian American business leader profiled though! MOODTHINGY v.0.2 ALPHA How does this post make you [...]
[...] provoking for me. As you can imagine, there are a lot of Asian Americans in Silicon Valley but like in the boardroom and upper management, there are not very many Asian Americans or other ethnic minorities represented in local [...]
[...] Bamboo ceiling as he calls it here), to which our very own John Lin has specifically covered in an excellent article nearly three years [...]
[...] great to see Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh featured on The Colbert Report, who is a terrific example of an Asian American business leader. If you haven’t tried Zappos, it’s the leading online seller of footwear on the [...]
[...] I’m not a fan of Jindal’s policies or politics, but as the first Indian American governor elected in the United States, he has definitely broken new mental barriers as to how many Americans may perceive who political or business leaders can be. [...]
[...] are interviewed. However, I was disappointed that Strickler got a lot more airtime and thought, oh, maybe stereotypically, Strickler is the CEO and Perry is the CTO or technical guy. Then I Google’d a little, was surprised that Perry was [...]
[...] how few Asian Americans there are at the CEO, upper management or board of directors level, I was pleasantly surprised to hear about Shih’s news. And women are notoriously poorly [...]