Is there discrimination against Asian Americans in the workplace?
Can you relate a man with an Ivy college diploma and decent salary to discrimination? Probably no, and neither can I. How about adding a racial identity to him, say Asian American? This answer may be not that simple.
Such topic above has brought about a hot debate on the Internet. Many people insist there is no discrimination against Asian Americans. More than a half Asian Americans hold college degree (Hyun, 16). “In 2013, Asians’ median weekly earnings were $973, as compared to$799 for whites” (Golash-Boza). Considered the most educated and richest racial group in the United States, Asians can hardly be connected to facing discrimination from the view of some people. In addition, many believe it is the lack of communication skills and leadership characteristics that hold Asians back in promotion, instead of discrimination.
However, demographic data can be tricky. “In 2004, less than 10 percent of Hmong, Laotian, or Cambodian adults in the US had college degrees”, while the number in all Chinese and Pakistani is a half (Golash-Boza). In addition, while Asian Americans consist of 6.2 percent of American higher education faculty, only 2.4 percent of them are in important positions, stated by the Committee of 100 in Higher Education Report Card (qtd. in Ruttiman).
It is the same with the uneven rate of Asians’ income. According to Golash-Boza, some Chinese and Indian men have greater personal budgets than white people, but not Laotian, Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Hmong Americans. In addition, it makes sense when some Asians earn more than the white when they had better education and worked harder in schools. However, studies show Asian Americans have low...
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Hyun, Jane. “Leadership Principles for Capitalizing on Culturally Diverse Teams: The Bamboo Ceiling Revisited.” Leader to Leader. 16 Mar. 2012: 14-19. Web. 2 Apr. 2014 < http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ltl.20017/abstract >
Ruttiman, Jacqueline. “Breaking Through the ‘Bamboo Ceiling’ for Asian American Scientists”. AAAS.org. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, 29 May. 2009. Web. 2 Apr.
Thompson, Krissah. “Author, N. Va. Native Helen Wan on the ‘bamboo ceiling’”. Washingtonpost.com. 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 2 Apr.
Both were exposed to various stereotypes and write on how the stereotypes are time again permeated across societies. Asian Americans are viewed as the ‘Model Minority’. Asian Americans have high rates of admission into institutions of higher education, low rates of drop outs and also higher grades across all groups. Asian Americans also have higher average annual incomes than other groups. Asian Americans also figure lower in crime rates.
Discrimination is still a chronic global issue, and drastic inequalities still exist at the present time. Thus, the Affirmative Action Law is an important tool to many minorities most especially to women, and people of color, for the reason that this program provides an equality on educational, and professional opportunities for every qualified individual living in the United States. Without this program, a higher education would have been impossible for a “minority students” to attain. Additionally, without the Affirmative Action, a fair opportunity to have a higher-level career...
In an April data report, experts from Pew Research Center, a nonprofit organization that conducts data based on social issues, public opinion and demographic changes, reported that “Asian-Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group…they place more value than other Americans do on marriage, parenthood, hard work and career success.” It is biased claims like this are the reasons why Asians are encouraged to be further discriminated agains...
In 2001 statistics reported by the United States Department of Education indicated that during 1997-1998 African American students received 8.3% of bachelor’s degrees awarded. Concurrently, Hispanic students as well as Asian or Pacific Islander students received 6.0%, while American Indian/Alaskan Native students only accounted for .7%. Although statistics from agencies who report differ, clearly on a national level, minority students
According to the Pew Research Center data, recent trends shows that Asian Americans are the “the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the United States” ("The Rise o...
I also researched instances of counter actions taken by Asian Americans to protest against these negative images. My research also has examples of Asians that have succeeded in breaking through the racial barriers in the media. The results show that even though racial stereotyping still exists in various forms of mass media, there are signs that show noticeable improvement in allowing a more balanced image of Asian Americans. Statement of the Problem There are close to 12 million Asian Americans living in the United States (U.S. Asian, 2000). Asian Americans are considered one of the fastest growing minorities (Pimentel, 2001).
For 20 years, Asian Americans have been portrayed by the press and the media as a successful minority. Asian Americans are believed to benefit from astounding achievements in education, rising occupational statuses, increasing income, and are problem-fee in mental health and crime. The idea of Asian Americans as a model minority has become the central theme in media portrayal of Asian Americans since the middle 1960s. The term model minority is given to a minority group that exhibits middle class characteristics, and attains some measure of success on its own without special programs or welfare. Asian Americans are seen as a model minority because even though they have faced prejudice and discrimination by other racial groups, they have succeeded socially, economically, and educationally without resorting to political or violent disagreements with the majority race. The “success” of the minority is offered as proof that the American dream of equal opportunity is capable to those who conform and who are willing to work hard. Therefore, the term ...
The success of the Asian American population is often the result of their education. Work visa are granted to those with college degrees, often in the fields of medicine, science, engineering and finance.(Blow, 2015) They are already set up to achieve the American dream.
In relation to workplace discrimination, wages rank among the issues that affect working Asian-Americans. According to ChangHwan Kim and Author Sakamoto, Asian Americans earn 8% lower wages compared to their White counterparts. Furthermore, they also found out that education did not significantly improve the wage earning situation for Asian Americans. Asian American males with college degrees still earn a lower wage compared to a White male with a similar level of education. Although the 8% difference may not seem to be much, it is a clear indication that racial discrimination for Asian Americans still exists through wage rates (Charles and Guryan 509).
Asian Americans are commonly seen by many as superior to other minorities, but this is not the case. They are surprisingly at a small disadvantage compared to other races. Ronald Takaki argued in his article “The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority” that Asians are not a model race that should be celebrated and compared to other minorities. He mentioned when other minorities are compared to Asian Americans, it can cause other races, such as African Americans, to feel resentment towards them. Ronald Takaki states that Asian Americans are just like everyone else, but many people only see them as being aloof, hardworking, successful entrepreneurs. There are figures on family incomes, university acceptance, and life experiences that disprove Asian
When you think about the culture in the United States (U.S.), it is considered to be very diverse. There are many different cultures and religions in the country, which increases the diversity. Asians are a significant part of U.S. culture as they have been around for years. However when compared to how other U.S. citizens are treated, Asian Americans are treated significantly worse. “Asian Americans, like other people of color, continually find themselves set apart, excluded and stigmatized-whether during the 19th century anti-Chinese campaign in California, after the 1922 Supreme Court decision (Ozawa v. United States) that declared Asians ineligible for U.S. citizenship, or by a YouTube video that went viral on the Internet in 2011 in which a UCLA student complained bitterly about Asians in the library” (Healey, p.330). Many Asian Americans have been treated poorly because of how they are perceived within the society. It may be because of a jealousy against their strong academic achievement or because of the many jobs that they have “taken away” from the American population. In Wu Franks Article, Yellow, he claims that when someone refers to someone as an American, it is automatically assumed that they are White, however when someone is thought of as a minority they are thought of as Black. Asian Americans neither fit into the Black or White category, therefore feel as if there is no place within society for them to fall into. Wu’s article in comparison to the documentary Vincent Who?, explains how Asian Americans have been treated in America in the past, and how those stigmas have not changed as much. The documentary Vincent Who?, goes to describing murder of Vincent Chin, who was brutally attacked and murdered outside of a ...
...o “limit Asian Americans’ career opportunities.” In mainstream media, Asian Americans are often overrepresented in number-crunching professions that require minimal language proficiency (e.g., engineering and sciences), but underrepresented in social science and humanities fields that entail superb language and interpersonal communication skills.
There are many types of discrimination in the America such as racial, religious, age, disability, and sexual. As college students, discrimination will play a major role in minorities lives as they look for employment or whom they are employed with. Discrimination and the opportunities for promotion are still common even though companies create a safe place to prevent racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is one of the world’s major issues today. Many are not aware on how much it still exists everywhere. A person cannot be born racist and discriminative but only learn to become one as they grow from child to an adult.
Schein in his book “Organizational Culture and Leadership” explains how different believes and behaviors start to be logical when we understand their cultures by stating “When we learn to see the world through cultural lenses, all kinds of things begin to make sense that initially were mysterious, frustrating, or seemingly stupid” (2010, p. 13). This kind of foresight should be the starting point in order to manage the tremendously growing diversity in the workforce nowadays. Leaders and administrators of both public and private organizations through their influence are responsible to promote and manage diversity in an ethical manner.