Skeptical about the bamboo ceiling at mixed media watch

Skeptical about the bamboo ceiling

JC
I just caught a brief review of Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians. I guess that while it was published last year, it is now getting a bit of attention because it has just been released in paperback. First, I have to say that the phrases the editor uses to describe the book are ridiculously cliche….but this is my favorite:

Furthermore, your strong work ethic and raw intelligence were sufficient when you started at the firm, but now they’re expecting you to be a rainmarker who can “bring in clients” and “exert influence” on others.

I hate it when my RAW intelligence gets me nowhere! ;) OK….so I am not being sympathetic. But I am not sure I agree with Jane Hyun’s train of thougth. The book asserts that Asians do not understand the nuances of office culture - - they wind up not fitting in because of cultural differences. OR people just don’t get them. The small and unconscious behaviors of Asian employees wind up keeping them out of management positions.

I have two problems with this. First, the description makes it seem like the book completely places the blame on the Asian employee (”Career coach Hyun helps Asian Americans understand the effects of their cultural values on career advancement in the competitive corporate environment.”). The “effects?” Cultural values are clearly given a negative connotation here. Why not just say – “It’s a shame no one understands you and your cultural self! Learn the American way or you will be kept down forever!” I believe that this line of thought is quite nearsighted (not to mention racist).

Maybe the larger problem is some misconception that the leadership has about Asians? Perhaps there is some underlying racism at play if Asians aren’t given the chance to excel? Or maybe it’s as simple as management not wanting to see Asians in positions of power, period. Those in power are known to hire and promote others who resemble themselves. Sure, talk about those things, and tool yourself with that knowledge — but blaming your cultural values? I have a bit of a problem with that. I have trouble with anyone telling an employee to be less of themselves in order to get ahead. I am sure that some people experience differences at work that are hard to grasp at first, but come on. Haven’t we all agreed (the one good point that I remember from the FX series Black.White.) that people of color are the best at adapting? We all learn to live in a white world…I find it hard to believe that “adaptability” is the reason why Asians hit the “bamboo ceiling.”

By the way, I think “bamboo ceiling” is a ridiculous term. And this is my second point. There is no need to create a new ceiling out of bamboo for Asians (but I am sure this was just a phrase that was coined in order to grab people’s attention for the book). The ceiling has always been glass and it exists for a wide spectrum of people, unfortunately. It’s well known that the people who are most often able to sidestep the glass ceiling are white, heterosexual men.

I don’t like the focus on just Asians, because I am sure (though I don’t know the specific numbers) that their Latino, black, Native, and any combination of all :), etc… counterparts are also struggling to get to senior executive positions. But…..obviously, people are fixated on talking about the specific needs of very specific groups without looking at the larger picture. Everyone should be challenging the glass ceiling…and if we are thinking oh, it’s my ethnic name, or my accent, or my cultural values, then that confirms how very racist most of the leadership of the country is, and how much we have internalized that racism.

Trackbacks & Pings

Mixed Media Watch - tracking media representations of mixed people on 19 Jun 2006 at 8:00 am

[…] MIXED MEDIA WATCH NEWS UPDATE Jen and Carmen discuss three recent posts on their blog, Mixed Media Watch. First, Jen questions the premise behind a new book titled Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians . Carmen discusses the case of an interracial family in a town near St. Louis, MO who are facing eviction because of a law that prohibits more than three people from living together unless they are related “by blood, marriage or adoption.” The couple is not married, but are raising 3 children and have been together for 13 years. Is this really about marriage, or about race? Finally, Jen discusses the racism that black athletes are facing from white fans in the World Cup . […]

Comments

nonwhiteperson wrote:

The corporate world is racist and hires its own: straight, white males. The glass ceiling for Asians in the corporate world is often the expectation for Asians to conform to the normative aggressive, confrontational “management style” of US corporations.

Posted 06 Jun 2006 at 1:25 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:

I’m Asian American and have found that the only way to survive (at my job) is to adapt to my company’s “aggressive, confrontational” culture.
Of course, now I’m labeled as a loose cannon.

Posted 06 Jun 2006 at 3:22 pm ¶
Ailurophile wrote:

I haven’t read the book, so I can’t say if the author does this, but what is with lumping a whole diverse variety of people under the umbrella “Asian?” A Hmong immigrant, a fourth-generation Japanese-American and an Oxford-educated Brit of Asian Indian descent are all going to have different workplace issues.

Posted 06 Jun 2006 at 8:44 pm ¶
nonwhiteperson wrote:

“I’m Asian American and have found that the only way to survive (at my job) is to adapt to my company’s “aggressive, confrontational” culture.”

That’s right. Corporate America needs to be less racist and adapt to the people living here.

Posted 06 Jun 2006 at 10:18 pm ¶
Anonymous wrote:

Corporations exist first and formost to make money, not to make people feel good about themselves. It may suck, but it’s mostly about the bottom line. Every company has their particular style and “company culture”. If an employee can’t adopt this company culture, due to differences between it and their personality or learned ethnic cultural behaviors, they probably won’t excel. I don’t think that having to conform to some degree at work is a bad thing; it’s part of what you do to earn your income. If you hate a company’s culture, work for a company better suited to you, or just be prepared to suck it up and learn to conform.

I think the book would make a mistake to lump all people of Asian decent together as having the same issues at work. There may be trends, but I think it’s going to be a mostly individual thing. And I don’t like the title, either. Why not “Jade ceiling”? That’d probably be even harder to break through.

Posted 12 Jun 2006 at 4:17 pm ¶
nonwhiteperson wrote:

More on the white, male corporate culture. This article says it is more sexist than racist.

http://www.workingmother.com/June03WOC_delicate.shtml

Excerpts:

The stakes are high. With a growing diversity of customers, in the United States and in a global economy, corporations must cultivate the broadest culture possible. Workplace experts have said for years that creativity is enhanced by plurality. To get the best talent, companies must attract, and keep, every variety of bright and ambitious worker.

The strains inside corporations are clear, and the number of women who bail out reinforces the point. Recent studies show that women are leaving companies in high numbers to venture out on their own, and women of color are outpacing the pack. Many simply don’t want to deal with major corporations any more.

Posted 02 Jul 2006 at 2:49 pm ¶