Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling Starts with Mentorship for Asian Americans

Here’s a puzzle: What racial group has, on average, the most years of education, the highest median income, and the lowest unemployment rate in the United States? Hint: The majority of this group has a bachelor’s degree, compared to the American average of 33% of all adults. 

It’s us, Asian Americans — but those statistics paint a rosy picture, aka that of the “model minority.” Yet in offices across the U.S., Asian Americans report feeling less included at workplaces, with only 16% of Asian men and 20% of Asian women saying they felt fully included at work. Moreover, Asian Americans, while well represented in professional workplaces (13% of the American professional workforce), are the least likely group to be promoted to management roles and are underrepresented in leadership, with only 6% holding executive positions. In 2017, only 16 of the 500 S&P-listed (an index of American businesses) companies’ CEOs were Asian (3% of the group), while 440 were led by white CEOs. Notably, at the time, Asians made up 6% of the total population. 

So what is holding us back? Many experts point to what is called the “bamboo ceiling.”

What is the Bamboo Ceiling?

The “bamboo ceiling” was coined over two decades ago by Jane Hyun as a term to describe the obstacles that Asian Americans face in the workplace to attaining leadership roles, similar to the way that “glass ceiling” is used to describe the barriers that women face in the workplace since the 1970s. 

According to Coqual, 36% of Asian and Asian American professionals report that they have experienced racial prejudice in the workplace, with Asian Americans facing more microaggressions than all other professionals, including counterparts of color. The Asian American Foundation’s 2023 STAATUS Index found that Americans were “less comfortable” with Asian Americans in positions of power compared to other groups. 

But the bamboo ceiling might not be the same for all Asians. Research has found that East Asians in America tend to be less assertive in their communication style but also more punished for speaking out. This double bind is strongly linked with fewer East Asians attaining executive roles, in comparison to South Asian and white people, especially in environments where confidence and self-promotion are rewarded. When Goldman Sachs reviewed CEOs of Fortune 500 companies in 2022, they found that nearly all of the 39 Asian American CEOs were born, raised, or educated in the West, and that 22 were South Asian. (Interestingly, more than 80% of the Asian Americans who got CEO appointments came after the company had had a financial stumble.)

Additionally, Asian American women face compounded challenges. A 2013 study found that discrimination against Asian American women often occurs on both personal and professional levels. Data from 2007 to 2015, collected by the Ascend Foundation, shows just how stark the leadership gap can be: Asian American women are significantly underrepresented in executive roles in Silicon Valley, with an Executive Parity Index (EPI) of 0.296, compared to 0.693 for white women and 0.629 for Asian men. (White men are vastly overrepresented in leadership, with an EPI of 1.834.) An EPI below 1.0 means a group is underrepresented at the leadership level, and thus, Asian women face both a racial and gender gap when climbing the corporate ladder.

While the burden should not be on Asian Americans to solve the problem of the bamboo and/or glass ceiling or to better inclusion practices, seeking mentorship can help significantly. 

Why Seek Out Mentors and Mentees?

Given the exclusion, burnout, and difficult career trajectories, Asian American professionals need intentional and supportive relationships with mentors and mentees to navigate barriers, gain visibility, and build our own pathways to leadership. 

The numbers go to show that this is a solution that works: Harvard Business Review reports that 75% of executives credit their success to having mentors, and professionals with mentors are 90% more likely to report happiness at work. Despite this, only 26% of Asian Americans strongly agree, according to AAPI Data and Momentive, that they have support to pursue leadership opportunities in their workplaces, as compared to 40% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, 43% of Black people, and 45% of white people. 

How Asian Americans Can Build Mentorship and Leadership Connections

Karen Hui-Saechao, a career coach for first-generation new graduates and young professionals, runs her own coaching business, Made For More Coaching. She shares that seeking mentors and positive relationships in the workplace can start by meeting people on a human level. 

“In less diverse workplaces, the first three things that I gravitate towards are seeing who is open to you: Who is curious? Because you will naturally see those relationships come towards you, rather than you needing to seek out,” she explains. “The second is being open and creating space, being visible, and the last one for me would be not being afraid to show interest or offering empathy toward your coworkers.”

Visibility can go a long way — eating lunch away from your desk and spending time at the water cooler (IRL or virtually) can help us feel more present and connected in the workplace. Building connections beyond familiar circles is also key. Research has found that many East Asians tend to stick within tight, ethnically similar networks, which can unintentionally limit access to broader opportunities. Making an effort to engage with professional groups, cross-departmental projects, or even community organizations outside your comfort zone can open doors to mentors and leadership pathways.

While that might go against the value of hard work instilled in many of us since we were children, the work of building relationships can go a long way towards preparing for a leadership role. 

“Leadership isn’t just about being good at a task. Leadership is about your ability to inspire other people, your ability to bring people along into your vision, and getting them to a certain place,” Hui-Saechao adds. “And if you’re Asian American, if we’re not leaving the door open to create opportunities for more people who look like us, then we’re missing the point of our title.”

Richard Leong, a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) consultant, echoes that sentiment, sharing, “You never know when you yourself might be the entry point for being able to bring on folks from your background … So don’t neglect that piece as well.”

Leong started his career as a fifth-grade teacher before moving into nonprofit racial justice and leadership development work. His advice for building meaningful workplace connections:

• Get personal. Find moments and specific stories you can share — being vulnerable and authentic is the only way to build meaningful, comfortable relationships.
• Make the first move. As he puts it, “Particularly when you’re in the early stages of building relationships, make it known that if you are looking for someone to be your mentor or if you are looking for someone to learn from, see if there’s small ways in which you can start building that dynamic within that relationship.”
• Finally, offer something in return. “Relationships are always two-way … Don’t forget to think about what you can offer to other people, even if you’re looking to them as a potential role model or mentor,” Leong says.

For those who may not find formal mentors right away, Hui-Saechao and Leong both emphasize the power of peer mentorship. Near-peer relationships — when early and mid-career professionals support each other — can provide insight, encouragement, and a sense of shared progress, especially for Asian Americans navigating unique workplace barriers.

Hui-Saechao adds that cultivating a community of support is essential. And when you can, seek out role models who understand your lived experience. Mentors who have also faced racial or cultural barriers often bring an added layer of understanding that can be invaluable.

“Always look for a champion in your life. Always look for the champion, the cheerleader, the people that will stick with you no matter what stage you are in life…These are the people that will have the right things to say about you,” she says.

For those already in positions of power, the responsibility doesn’t end with personal success. “If we are serious about getting to a place where organizations value DEI … it does behoove some of us, particularly those of us with power, to be able to step up and dig in on this just a little bit,” Leong adds. “It’s really important for Asian American leaders to have a strong sense of community, and a strong sense of identity within that community.”

In addition to looking out for other Asian American professionals, a good leader needs to interrogate their biases, because according to Leong, it’s “the unfortunate consequence of working in corporate spaces that are influenced by white supremacy, culture, and toxic management practices.”

“For many Asian Americans who find themselves in positions of power and leadership and influence, the reality is many of them got there by subconsciously or consciously adopting a lot of internalized toxic beliefs and perspectives about what leadership should look like,” he continues. “The first thing is to interrogate your own biases, or interrogate the lessons that you’ve picked up from your own leaders and your childhood growing up about what leadership looks like.”

Breaking the bamboo ceiling requires more than hard work; it takes building relationships, finding mentors, creating cultures of psychological safety, and supporting each other on our respective and shared pathways. As Hui-Saechao and Leong remind us, leadership isn’t about climbing alone; it’s about reaching back and making sure the next person has a strong foothold and fewer obstacles along the way.

Images via Canva.