The bamboo ceiling refers to a systemic barrier or obstacle which prevents Asian Americans from moving to higher executive positions. The term was coined by Jane Hyun, who wrote a book on how one can transcend this barrier. While some try to deny the existence of such a barrier, there is evidence that this barrier exists in an impactful way.
The reason why the bamboo ceiling is such a big deal is because it is overlooked. Sarah Chu, a writer for Medium, describes the bamboo ceiling as “hidden in plain sight.” This account shows a direct correlation between the projection of Asian Americans as the “model minority.” The highest concentration of Asian Americans reside in the San Francisco Bay Area. In a study conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of disparities between white and Asian workers in the Bay Area, despite both races being equally represented in white-collar jobs, White men fill 48% of the executive positions while Asian men fill 18% of the executive jobs. The same holds true for women as well. White and Asian women, even though there are more Asian American women than White women working in white-collar jobs in the Bay area, fill executive positions at 18.5% and 7% respectively.
Asian Americans are supposedly the most financially successful racial group in America. In 2018, according to the Census Bureau, the median Asian household income was 12.3% higher than that of White households. People use these facts to justify the model minority myth. Although Asian Americans have the highest median household income, they are also subject to the largest income gap in America. Asian Americans are portrayed as an example of working so hard that your race doesn’t matter. This is why the model minority myth is so damaging to Asian Americans. The projection of Asian Americans as the model minority results in important issues affecting them, such as the bamboo ceiling, going unnoticed.
The model minority myth allows the Bamboo Ceiling to thrive. In a study done of 5 large tech companies (Google, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, LinkedIn, and Yahoo), 1 in every 285 Asian American women were promoted, in comparison to the 1 in 87 White men who were promoted, which is greater than 3 times the rate for Asian American women. Asian American women especially have it hard, as they have to face the effects of both gender and racial bias. The bamboo ceiling prevents Asian Americans from being equally represented in leadership positions despite making up a large portion of the workforce underneath the executives.
Hyun was able to break through the bamboo ceiling. Hyun explains that there are more factors than the eye can see when it comes to young Asian Americans and their confidence in the workplace. She talks about how different gestures can be misinterpreted due to cultural differences and how it really helps to form strong relationships with peers and other professional connections, as she would well know, having worked for 14 years at multiple companies as an HR executive. The ability to create these connections, however, will come with time. It will take a world in which there is less inequality and more openness about different cultures and views.
Unfortunately, the issues of the model minority and the bamboo ceiling are societal, making it impossible for there to be one tangible solution. However, with time, we can hope as a society to embody the visions of both Jason Wang and Jane Hyun and limit the influence of the Bamboo Ceiling.