Advancing Asian Women in the Workplace: What Managers Need to Know
Since 1997, Catalyst has released a continuous stream of research on women of color in corporate management. We find that companies and managers want detailed information on the unique experiences of specific racial/ethnic groups that are included in the women-of-color category, and this series of reports (which includes separate reports on Latinas and African-American women) addresses that need.
Impetus: This study was conducted to provide guidance to managers in retaining and advancing this increasingly important segment of the workforce.
Methodology:
- Quantitative findings come from 413 Asian women survey respondents in F1000 companies.
- Qualitative findings are from 12 focus groups with entry- and mid-level Asian women.
- These respondents participated in Catalyst’s larger 1999 study, Women of Color in Corporate Management: Opportunities and Barriers.
Findings: Asian women report the lack of key professional relationships as a major barrier to their career advancement. In addition, some cultural values reported by Asian women, learned in or reinforced by families, are at odds with successfully navigating American corporate culture. Many Asian women feel overlooked by diversity programs and policies, perhaps due to perceptions in the corporate world that Asians do not require specific diversity efforts. While many Asian women strive to maintain the importance of their cultural backgrounds, others try to fit in with the majority group and do not consider themselves in need of diversity efforts. Asian women in the study who are "more acculturated" (born in the United States or immigrated as a child and do not speak second language at home), are more satisfied and feel more successful in their careers, and are more satisfied with their pay. Women who are "less acculturated" (immigrated to the United States as teens or adults and do not speak English at home) are less likely to feel it is appropriate to challenge the way things are done in their workplaces, and are less likely to report that diversity efforts have created a supportive climate.
Sponsor: McDonald’s Corporation
