The Pew Research Center’s recent report The Rise of Asian Americans, which shows that Asians, not Latinos, comprise the largest group of immigrant arrivals in the US, surprised many people. The data also show that Asian Americans have the highest education and per capita income. Together with low reported discrimination, the report paints a portrait of US success. On the face of these findings, now already three years old, Asian Americans should expect to have a bigger voice in US politics and, indeed, in US society.
In fact, Asian Americans remain a relatively rare sight in leadership positions, even in the corporate world, where one would assume that their education and ambition would be most beneficial. If hard work was all it took to rise into the upper echelons of power in corporate America, one would expect to see many Asian American faces at the top, perhaps especially in financial services, accounting, technology and healthcare.
Study after study shows the reverse to be true. For example, research conducted by Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics shows that just 30 Fortune 100 companies had Asian-Pacific Islander (API) representation on their boards last year. Twenty-nine API directors held 32 of 1,211 total board seats and two of the 100 chief executive officers were of API descent.
Asia Society’s own research of Asian-Pacific American (APA) employees finds that just 42 percent believe that there are APA role models at their companies and only 48 percent believe that APAs are amply represented in key positions at their companies. In the comprehensive National Asian American Survey, 9 percent of respondents reported being unfairly denied a job or fired and 12.9 percent said that they had been unfairly denied a promotion at work.
This is not a picture of a minority group marching inexorably toward better lives and reaching into the upper echelons of US society, without facing discrimination. Instead, the barriers faced by all minority populations in the US apply equally to Asian Americans, with certain features particular to, or more apparent in, this community.
If all it took was hard work to succeed in the US, what has happened to all those APAs who entered US companies on the bottom rung? Surely they did not just disappear. Rather than being a model minority, Asian Americans are in fact a neglected minority.
Part of the problem is an overall insistence on looking at the Asian American population largely from the point of view of its members’ countries of origin. This extends the exoticism of the “Orient” with a litany of names that have only recently entered the US consciousness, while overlooking more integral perspectives.
For example, we have seen from workplace data that time in the US or nativity is a critical factor. Pew’s research finds some fascinating differences between native-born and foreign-born Asian Americans. Simply put, Asian immigrants who arrive in the US at younger ages are more like their native-born counterparts in outlook and perspective.
In addition, the perception of Asian Americans as the “perpetual other” is alive and well. Indeed, the rise of Asia itself — and US companies’ resulting focus on the Asian market — has in many ways served to amplify it.
We see this when companies hold up their activities in Asia as examples of what they are doing for the Asian American community. There is also the insidious inference that someone who chooses to call herself Chinese-American is clinging to a non-American identity, whereas someone who chooses to call herself, say, Italian-American, is above suspicion.
This alienation is felt in the work place as well, with just 49 percent of APA employees in our survey saying that they feel a sense of belonging at their companies. The perception that these employees are “great workers, but not leaders,” or that they have “problems communicating or showing assertiveness,” is pervasive.
In many ways, Asian Americans are caught in a no-win situation. When their behavior aligns with preconceptions (shy and non-assertive), this is used to justify not promoting them or engaging them on important projects. On the other hand, when Asian Americans exhibit leadership behavior similar to those of others, they are perceived as overly aggressive. As Asian Americans become a majority native-born community in the next few decades, challenging these perceptions will become increasingly important.
The model minority myth perpetuated by the Pew research is misleading. At its core, it contains a highly objectionable assumption that other minorities do not work hard enough to succeed. In addition, as others have eloquently argued, the topline numbers and statistics hide wide variance within the Asian American community itself.
Finally, insistence on holding up Asian Americans’ “success” often serves as an excuse to overlook the very real challenges that they face.
If corporate America and the US more generally are to realize the full potential of all US citizens, we can no longer use Asian Americans to cling to the idea that it is an unalloyed meritocracy. If anything, their experience points to the need for profound change in the US workplace and corporate culture.
Vishakha Desai is president and CEO of the Asia Society.
Copyright: Project Syndicate
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing