Accelerating Asian employees’ careers in Canada, the UK, and the US

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  Britney Jacobs, MSFPsy ,  Kathrina Robotham, PhD  &  Joy Ohm

Executive summary

Employees with Asian heritage make up 22% of the workforce in Canada, 7% of the workforce in the United States, and 10% of the working population in the United Kingdom1 and these numbers are growing. Though they are an important portion of the talent pipeline, our data show that their skills and expertise are not being leveraged by many businesses.

We surveyed Asian employees from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States about their workplace experiences2 and found that a majority of respondents in all three countries report that their career trajectories are limited by both a lack of mentorship and sponsorship and a lack of performance feedback.

Contrary to common stereotypes of Asian employees as diligent workers who excel in technical roles but lack leadership aspirations,3 they do aspire to leadership roles and higher-ranking positions, often even more so than their non-Asian counterparts.4

But our data also show that they often experience race-based harassment from colleagues and managers that sends a message that they don’t belong. So, while Asian employees want to advance, they do not receive the leadership support that employees need to reach higher levels.

In this report, we'll explore how these three major barriers play out and offer solutions to help organizations mitigate their effects. These are clear opportunities that business leaders committed to reaping the rewards of a workplace where everyone can thrive should tackle:

  1. Implement strong performance feedback practices.
  2. Accelerate talent with mentorship and sponsorship.
  3. Create a harassment-free environment.

Recognizing disparities among Asian subgroups

Business leaders who want to ensure that Asian employees get the same career opportunities as everyone else can benefit from understanding that the term "Asian" encompasses many diverse ethnicities, each with unique experiences and culture.5 Crucial differences among subgroups are often obscured when all Asian employees are lumped together. For example, compared to South Asian employees, East Asian employees are often subject to stereotypes that portray them as less assertive, creative, and masculine, and more likely to socialize within their subgroup. These stereotypes can misalign with traditional North American and European leadership expectations.6 Therefore, it is important to consider the unique experiences of each Asian subgroup, as they may encounter different barriers and biases.

Even when East Asian and South Asian subgroups are recognized, the unique experiences of Southeast Asian employees are often overlooked and ignored. Wherever possible, data should be broken out by subgroup to ensure your organization has the most accurate picture of employee experiences. This will allow implementation of the most comprehensive solutions.

1. Implement strong performance feedback practices.7

In all three countries, a staggering half to three quarters of Asian employees, regardless of gender, say that their careers have been limited by lack of performance feedback. All employees need actionable feedback on their strengths and growth areas so they can develop into the leaders they have the potential to be.

Cutting the data by subgroup shows that Southeast Asians are the most likely to report a lack of performance feedback that has hindered their careers.8 The differences among subgroups highlighted by our data must be accounted for when organizations create strategies for boosting business results by ensuring that all employees are able to develop and grow.

Take action: Evaluate performance evaluation and feedback processes for fairness

2. Accelerate talent with mentorship and sponsorship.12

Mentors and sponsors for Asian employees are also in short supply in all three regions. In the United States, this is clear with a staggering 92% of Asian women reporting a lack of mentorship and sponsorship compared to 57% of Asian men.

In this case, when we parse out the subgroups, there are no meaningful differences, but for each subgroup seven in ten employees say that their careers could have benefitted from more mentorship and sponsorship.13

Take action: Develop a values-aligned sponsorship program

In their own words

Asian employees gave us examples of how these issues play out at work.14

“As an Asian man, I am consistently labeled as quiet and demure even though I'm not. I've been passed up for promotion because of this.”

— Vietnamese US man, 26 years old

“I expected promotion in my previous job. I had the experience and skills but someone, my junior, got the job instead. That individual was White and had less experience and less years of service at the company than me.”

— Pakistani UK man, 45 years old

“I was working at a fashion retail shop and I really wanted to work as the greeter to greet the customers. When I told this to my manager, he discriminated against me and told me I wasn't ‘White’ nor was I ‘pretty’ and he said I wasn't good at representing his store.”

— Chinese Canadian woman, 31 years old

3. Create a harassment-free environment.

Leadership support is especially critical since our data show that a significant percentage of Asian employees (51%) also face workplace harassment15 often related to their appearance,16 accents,17 and stereotypes. This can create a hostile environment that sends the message that they don’t belong in the workplace, undermines their confidence and wellbeing, and leads to dissatisfaction and attrition.18 Further, studies conservatively estimate that workplace harassment costs businesses $20-$56 billion annually.19 The added burden of navigating harassment is another barrier that can make it difficult for Asian employees to reach leadership positions and achieve their full potential, which is detrimental to both them and their employers.

Many Asian employees experience workplace harassment

51% of East Asians reported experiences of workplace harassment.

"I was blamed for the coronavirus.”

— Chinese Canadian man, 30 years old

“I was targeted because of the way my eyes looked, and they used that against me for pay regarding other people.”

— Japanese US man, 24 years old

53% of South Asians reported experiences of workplace harassment.

“They threw curry in my face.”

— Pakistani UK woman, 32 years old

“People in my workplace were mostly White so none of them wanted to be friends with me or hang out with me because I was a person of colour. They discriminated against me and always called me names and I always felt like I didn't belong. They would make stereotypes about me that I smell and that my accent is funny.”

— Pakistani UK woman, 27 years old

45% of Southeast Asians reported experiences of workplace harassment.

“My supervisor was looking for me and she didn’t know I was still around. She said I must be somewhere in China.”

— Laotian US woman, 42 years old

“People always get mad and tell me to go back to China... I'm Filipino and German and was born in Canada.”

— Filipino Canadian woman, 32 years old

Take action: Prevent workplace harassment

The bottom line

Asian employees face significant barriers to advancement in the workplace, leading to a lack of representation in leadership positions. Our research shows that poor performance feedback and lack of support from mentors and sponsors are two important factors that keep Asian employees from advancing into the executive ranks. Workplace harassment compounds the challenges they face. Organizations that want to retain a workforce that reflects society and customers and gives them an advantage over competitors must remove these barriers to inclusion, development, and promotions. Only then will Asian employees, and their employers, truly thrive.

How to cite: Jacobs, B. A., Robotham, K., & Ohm, J. (2025). Accelerating Asian employees’ careers in Canada, the UK, and the US. Catalyst.

Endnotes

  1. Labor force characteristics by race and ethnicity, 2023. (December 2024). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Table 14-10-0440-01 Labour force characteristics by visible minority group, annual, (24 January 2025). Statistics Canada; Working age population by ethnicity. (31 March 2023). Gov.UK.
  2. We surveyed 537 Asian employees from Canada (n = 150), the United Kingdom (n = 306), and the United States (n = 81). The sample included 290 women, 215 men, 28 trans/nonbinary, and 4 people who preferred not to answer. The top five industries represented in the sample were administration/general management (16.4%), finance/accounting/purchasing (15.3%), computer/information systems management (9.5%), engineering (8.8%), and marketing/sales (7.6%). Participants were between the ages of 19 and 68 years old; the average age was 34 years old.
  3. Garg, M. (2021). Bamboo ceiling: Stereotyping Asians and discriminating the ‘model minority’. International Journal of Social Science, 6(6), 1881-1889.
  4. Garg, 2021.
  5. The Asian diaspora is organized into three distinct groups: South Asian, East Asian, and Southeast Asian. South Asian included individuals descended from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, or Sri Lanka. East Asian included individuals descended from China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, or Taiwan. Southeast Asian included individuals descended from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, or Vietnam.
  6. Lu, J. G. (2024). “Asian” is a problematic category in research and practice: Insights from the bamboo ceiling. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 33(6), 400-406.
  7. Participants were asked to what extent lack of performance feedback has limited their career advancement and could respond on a scale of 1 (not at all limiting) to 7 (to a very great extent limiting) with higher scores (4 to 7) indicating that it was more limiting to their career. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences between Asian men and women in Canada in their experiences of a lack of performance feedback limiting career advancement, F(1, 146) = 2.69, p = .103. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences between Asian men and women in the United Kingdom in their experiences of a lack of performance feedback limiting career advancement, F(1, 278) = .12, p = .729. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences between Asian men and women in the United States in their experiences of a lack of performance feedback limiting career advancement, F(1, 72) = 2.46, p = .121.
  8. A one-way ANOVA highlights the significant differences that a lack of performance feedback has in limiting career advancement between Asian subgroups, F (2, 611) = 5.18, p = .006. Bonferroni post-hoc testing highlights a significant difference between Southeast Asian and East Asian employees (p = .033) and Southeast Asian and South Asian employees (p = .004) where lack performance feedback has limited career advancement.
  9. Lu, 2024.
  10. Kim, K. Y., Shen, W., Evans, R., & Mu, F. (2022). Granting leadership to Asian Americans: The activation of ideal leader and ideal follower traits on observers' leadership perceptions. Journal of Business Psychology. 37(6):1157-1180.
  11. 1 in 4 employees say their supervisor’s bias negatively impacts their performance review. (30 November, 2023). Syndio.
  12. Participants were asked to what extent lack of mentorship and sponsorship has limited their career advancement and could respond on a scale of 1(not at all limiting) to 7 (to a great extent limiting) with higher scores (4 to 7) indicating that it was more limiting to their career. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences between Asian men and women in Canada in their experiences of lack of mentorship or sponsorship limiting career advancement, F(1, 145) = .75, p = .388. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences between Asian men and women in the United Kingdom in their experiences of a lack of mentorship and sponsorship limiting career advancement, F(1, 281) = .00, p = .95. A one-way ANOVA revealed a significant difference between Asian men and women in the United States in their experiences of a lack of mentorship and sponsorship limiting career advancement, F (1, 71) = 7.37, p = .008; women (M = 4.98) were more likely than men (M = 3.91 ) to report a lack of mentorship and sponsorship limiting career advancement. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of Asian employees in the United States who report that lack of mentorship and sponsorship has limited their career advancement differed significantly by gender, Χ2 (1) = 12.80, p = .000.
  13. A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences between Asian subgroups in their experiences of a lack of mentorship and sponsorship limiting career advancement, F(2, 610) = .929, p = .395.
  14. Word of voices research series (2022). [Unpublished data]. Catalyst.
  15. A one-way ANOVA did not reveal any significant differences in Asian employees’ experiences of discrimination at work by subgroup, F(2, 614) = .675, p < .509.
  16. Garg, 2021.
  17. Reid, M., Reid, S., & Eizadirad, A. (2024). Asian educators experiencing the bamboo ceiling: A Canadian case study of systemic barriers in hiring, advancement, and promotion. Canadian Journal of Education Revue Canadienne De l’éducation, 47(3), 607–633.
  18. Bergman, M. E., Palmieri, P. A., Drasgow, F., & Ormerod, A. J. (2012). Racial/ethnic harassment and discrimination, its antecedents, and its effect on job-related outcomes. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 17(1), 65.
  19. Workplace violence costs as much as $56 billion annually, researchers estimate. (28 April 2024). Fast Company; Segal, E. (16 December 2021). Workplace misconduct costs US businesses $20 billion in past year: New study. Forbes.