The “bamboo ceiling,” a play on the term “glass ceiling,” is used to describe the barriers Asians may feel when trying to move up into leadership roles in their careers. With Asians being the majority of the minority in industries like Tech, Healthcare, and Finance, there appears to be a lack of representation at the highest levels in said industries. If you’re still unfamiliar with the term “bamboo ceiling,” we recommend reading this article by NPR, which describes in great detail about the concept of the bamboo ceiling.

Industry Niches

Having worked in multiple industries ourselves, we were brainstorming of ideas on why Asians might be experiencing troubles moving up. One idea mentioned was the notion that we typically hole ourselves up in certain industries. For example, many of our friends are software engineers and code for a living. Although they make great money, the tech industry typically rewards those who come into the company and do a certain job. If they were looking for team leaders, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they decided to hire out instead of growing their own talent. Of course, these are generalizations and it really is case-by-case on whether you land at a company that promotes growth from within. However, there in lies the question of how does a software engineer become a director-level staff? Anything is possible but the pathway is not as straightforward as someone who has plenty of experience working as a product manager and team leadership.

Personality

If you’ve seen Ronny Chieng’s Netflix stand-up, you are probably familiar with how Asians just want things to work. However, could this mentality also be our biggest detriment? We are hard working people, always striving for the best outcome of our efforts, but in a society that promotes teamwork, collaboration, and emotions - maybe we need to switch gears. Although starring at a computer screen coding, pipetting samples in test tubes, or crunching numbers on an excel sheet might be our comfort zone, those might not be the skillset employers are prioritizing when they are looking for the next director to lead their company in new direction.

We Don’t Ask For Help

We get it - they hired you to do the job, so you better prove that you can. We’ve all struggled with this battle of being overly stubborn and not trying to show signs of weaknesses, but maybe that’s exactly what your managers want to see. Having a “growth mindset” is just as important as being proficient in Microsoft Office these days because employers want to see that you are able to change and adapt. Managers want need to also prove that they can help develop their staff and do their jobs, so you asking for help shows that you are not only adaptable, but a team player and willing to collaborate.

As always, listen in on the episode for the full details!