What blocks to Asian American employees' promotion?

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"Cultural background" and "communication skills" are among the top five barriers to workplace advancement for Asian and Asian-Pacific American (APA) employees in the United States, a survey released on Wednesday says.

APA employees are also more likely to report a shortage of role models, executives and board directors representing their cultural backgrounds, according to the executive summary of the 2018 Asian Corporate Survey by Asia Society, a New York City-based non-profit organization.

Over a third of the respondents reported zero APA presence in the leadership, the survey says.

VCG Photo.

For the first time, the survey included 400 non-APA employees in addition to 2,800 APA employees across the United States working in various industries to explore the nature, severity, and possible ways to address the barriers.

"There is a cultural mismatch that many US employers may be unaware of, with many APA employees stating they believe they are less likely than their non-APA counterparts to be considered for senior roles at their companies due to cultural differences," David Whitelaw Reid, executive director of Corporate Programs and Talent Initiatives at Asia Society, said in a statement.

"This is a great opportunity to make sure that both direct and indirect communication channels are available between employees and managers to accommodate and address such differences," he said.

"APA employees often do not get considered for senior positions. In turn, this means aspiring Asian employees do not have role models to look up to," Reid said there was a "vicious cycle" in the workplace.

In addition, compared to their non-Asian counterparts, Asian employees had a much lower favorability on a set of measures.

Asian respondents felt their companies did not comprehensively implement the initiatives stated in their mission statement, programs, policies, and procedures.

They also indicated lower favorability in their managers' support for the professional growth of employees of Asian background.

Due to this dissatisfaction, Asian respondents were less likely to care about their company's overall success and less likely to stay if offered a comparable position somewhere else.

The full-length report will be published in summer.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency