Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don't Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder

Margaret M. Chin

Published by New York University Press 2020

Stuck

Why Asian Americans Don't Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder

Margaret M. Chin

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479873807.001.0001

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Contents

About this book

Winner, 2022 Max Weber Award for Distinguished Scholarship, given by the American Sociological Association's Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work

Winner, 2021 PROSE Award in the Business, Finance & Management Category

A behind-the-scenes examination of Asian Americans in the workplace

In the classroom, Asian Americans, often singled out as so-called “model minorities,” are expected to be top of the class. Often they are, getting straight As and gaining admission to elite colleges and universities. But the corporate world is a different story. As Margaret M. Chin reveals in this important new book, many Asian Americans get stuck on the corporate ladder, never reaching the top.

In Stuck, Chin shows that there is a “bamboo ceiling” in the workplace, describing a corporate world where racial and ethnic inequalities prevent upward mobility. Drawing on interviews with second-generation Asian Americans, she examines why they fail to advance as fast or as high as their colleagues, showing how they lose out on leadership positions, executive roles, and entry to the coveted boardroom suite over the course of their careers. An unfair lack of trust from their coworkers, absence of role models, sponsors and mentors, and for women, sexual harassment and prejudice especially born at the intersection of race and gender are only a few of the factors that hold Asian American professionals back.

Ultimately, Chin sheds light on the experiences of Asian Americans in the workplace, providing insight into and a framework of who is and isn’t granted access into the upper echelons of American society, and why.

Author / Editor information

Chin Margaret M. :

Margaret M. Chin is Professor of Sociology at CUNY Hunter College and the Graduate Center. She is the author of the award-winning books Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don’t Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder and Sewing Women: Immigrants and the New York City Garment Industry.Margaret M. Chin is Professor of Sociology at CUNY Hunter College and the Graduate Center. She is the author of the award-winning books Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don’t Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder and Sewing Women: Immigrants and the New York City Garment Industry.

Reviews

Chin interviewed 103 Asian Americans who employed in corporate America between 2016 and 2018 and who were born in the US (second generation) or came to the US by age 13 (the 1.5 generation). This is an important innovation as most studies divide Asian Americans into those born in the US (second generation) and not born here (immigrants), ignoring the 1.5 generation. Chin also examined national data sets: the Census Bureau's American Community Survey and the Public Use Microdata Series.

Margaret Chin compellingly paints a complex picture of the 'stuck' ivy league-educated Asian American professional. She pushes corporations to expand their own understandings of racism, and to broaden conversations about how discrimination can manifest differently and uniquely for Asian Americans. She also encourages investment in diversity programs as mentorships prove useful for advancement.

Pawan Dhingra, author of Hyper Education: Why Good Schools, Good Grades, and Good Behavior Are Not Enough:
Does race continue to matter even for Ivy-league educated, highly assimilated, and well-qualified minorities? Yes, and it limits opportunities that end up costing us all. Stuck offers a timely and highly readable ‘playbook’ on the fallacy of American meritocracy and how Asian Americans respond.

Anthony Ocampo, author of The Latinos of Asia: How Filipino Americans Break the Rules of Race:
Stuck reveals the disappointment—and danger—of buying into a meritocratic version of the American Dream. Chin shows that Ivy League degrees and a willingness to work twice as hard are not magical antidotes to racism within the professional ranks. In holding up a mirror to corporate America, Stuck provides the understanding necessary to begin unraveling the structural inequalities faced by Asian Americans in the workplace.

Mary Waters, John L. Loeb Professor of Sociology, Harvard University:
Stuck lays bare the ways both subtle and overt racial discrimination keeps Asian Americans from reaching the highest levels of professional life. Margaret Chin’s extensive interviews with professional second generation Asian Americans shows how Ivy League credentials and hard work cannot overcome the ‘bamboo ceiling.’ This sensitive, insightful and ground-breaking work lays bare the impediments that keep second-generation Asian Americans from the very top jobs, and shows that America is not the meritocracy many believe it to be.

Van Tran, Deputy Director for the Center for Urban Research at The Graduate Center, CUNY:
In this brilliant and compelling study, Margaret Chin offers a rarely told account of how the Asian American second generation fares in the elite corporate workforce. Stuck is an eye-opening study on the continuing significance of race in shaping the professional lives of the new Asian American elite.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Aspiring Young Asian Americans Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
2. The Playbook for Success Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	48
3. Landing a Job Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
4. What’s in a Promotion? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
5. Moving Up to the Corner Office or Close to It Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
6. The Double Bind for Asian American Women Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
Conclusion: Reworking the Playbook Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Appendix Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	207
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221