Asians and Pacific Islanders are generally well represented in US companies, but not in leadership positions.
The theme of this year’s API Heritage Month is Empowering Leaders Through Opportunity.
For workers in Asia and the Pacific islands, the strong representation in the company workforce has not resulted in an increased number of API company leaders. McKinsey found that API representation decreases significantly as you climb up the ranks in a company. Women show the sharpest decline .
Here’s what companies can do to help API employees rise to leadership positions:
1. Increase representation
In a recent study conducted by Momentive and AAPI Data, only 26% of Asian and Pacific Islander employees surveyed strongly agreed that “there are others like me in leadership roles in my workplace.” Only 26% strongly agreed, that they “have support to embrace leadership opportunities in the workplace.” Of workers overall, including Black, Hispanic, and White employees, 41% said they had others “like me” in leadership roles, and 43% said they had the support to take on leadership roles.
When asked if they want to be “considered a leader at work,” just 29% of employees in Asia Pacific totally agree — which isn’t surprising given the lack of support for adopting leadership roles are lacking.
This difference in experience is particularly pronounced among East and Southeast Asian workers. When asked by McKinsey if their company provides all employees with the mentoring and coaching they need to be successful, only 27% of East Asian employees and 32% of Southeast Asian employees agreed, compared to 44% of white employees.
Creating a culture of justice begins with support from the top.
First, management must recognize the under-representation of Asian and Pacific Islanders in leadership positions and muster the courageous curiosity to engage in dismantling pervasive assumptions such as the myth of the exemplar minority. API employees have diverse cultural, historical, and lived experiences of their own, so leaders must commit to listening and leveraging both employee survey data and employee resource groups (or similar groups) to understand the unique needs of API employees.
Robert Half International employees have established five employee networking groups, including APEX (Asian Professionals for Excellence), and since its inception, more than 50% of its more than 6,000 US employees have attended events sponsored by these groups.
“We provide guidance and expertise in professional development, leadership and innovation – ultimately diversifying our talent pool,” said Katherine Spencer Lee, chief administrative officer at Robert Half. “As a company, we are committed to ensuring these organizations continue to thrive, and we encourage teams to get involved to connect with the community and expand their networks.”
Merck’s API resource group – the Asia Pacific Association (APA) – actively promotes mentoring for its members, 50% of whom are women. Part of Merck’s effort is focused on matching the next generation of API leaders with senior staff who also identify as API.
Participants greatly appreciate the opportunity to connect with leaders who share their background. A Merck employee and APA member shares:
“I think it’s great that there is an API-specific mentoring program – direct, applicable guidance from Asian leaders at all levels of the organization helps everyone involved. My concern in general care is that the challenges faced by Asian employees may not be met by employees from a different background and may lead to separation.”
2. Advocate for fair pay and promotions
Among workers in the typical US workplace, API women are less likely to feel that pay and promotions are fair. On average, API women still make just 80 cents for every dollar as white as non-Hispanic men make, with larger pay disparities for certain API ethnic subgroups.
In a July 2022 market study of part-time and full-time workers, only 46% of women in Asia and the Pacific Islands said promotion practices were fair, and 50% reported fair pay.
Learn in One According to Harvard Business Review and UKG, only 51% of employers surveyed said they had equal pay programs in place. The study also found differences in perceptions of fair pay, with API women reporting the largest gap: 40% of white male employees believe their company has managed to achieve equal pay for all employee groups, while white women do only 25% of Black or African American women and 16% of API women agree.
Employers can make a big difference.
In great places to work, API women have a significantly better experience: According to a survey of 1 million employees, 58% of API women report fair pay and 93% say their job has meaning.
What’s the big difference between a typical workplace and a great workplace?
Great Workplaces communicate the full value of their compensation, help managers establish pay policies, work to create pay transparency across the organization, and tie the work of employees to the purpose and mission of the organization.
3. Focus on your well-being
Managers need to educate themselves about the specific challenges API workers face outside of the workplace.
As the owner of the Sweet Mango Therapy Group, Christine R. Melendres, LCSW, specializes in supporting high-performing young API professional women struggling with anxiety to find clarity and regain their self-esteem.
“Asian and Pacific islander communities have suffered great hardship,” says Melendres. “Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, they have been the target of an increase in racism and discrimination. Due to the blatant racism and microaggressions, these incidents had a significant impact on the mental health of Asian and Pacific Islanders.”
One of the factors affecting the well-being of API employees is a lack of a sense of belonging—and not just in the workplace.
Four in five Asian and Pacific Islanders “don’t feel like they really belong in the United States,” per year national survey of more than 5,000 U.S. citizens . This insecurity was exacerbated by violent mass shootings such as the attack during the Lunar New Year in Monterey Park, California .
“Workplace belonging is an employee’s feeling that their uniqueness is accepted and even valued by their organization and their peers,” said Tony Bond, Chief Diversity and Innovation Officer at Great Place To Work®. “Belonging is a collection of everyday experiences that allows a person to feel safe and bring their whole, unique self to work.”
Identity and background are essential context for understanding the barriers employees face in the workplace.
Research from Great Place To Work found that young API mothers are 33% more prone to burnout compared to their white male counterparts. The gap widens even more when workers work on an hourly or wage basis, showing how different factors can combine to produce poorer outcomes for workers.
The solution? Be flexible and pick up the individual employee where he is.
When managers acknowledge the current and generational traumas of API employees and their families, they create psychological safety, one of the essential building blocks of trust in the workplace. An example of this is creating culturally relevant spaces in the workplace for sharing stories and experiences from API employees.
At Great Place To Work, an employee resource group called APIary provides attendees with a safe space to explore and redefine the narratives that shape their experiences at work.
“As a leader in the industry, I know firsthand that this is critical to developing leaders so they can reach their full potential at Great Place To Work,” said Erika Koh, EVP, Global Licensing and Development and Executive Co-sponsored by APIary.
“APIary members were given the autonomy to identify a gap in our current professional development program and enlist a licensed psychotherapist with similar lived experiences as an outside resource. This created a space to help members recontextualize the generational trauma in resilience and encourage awareness of self-care. The resulting focus on a winning mindset empowers them as a community and as an individual inside and outside of the workplace.”
Fix the Opportunity Gap
Great Workplaces ensures that current and potential employees – not just those within the API community – have full access to the paths that lead to development, recognition and promotion. When leaders understand how to foster well-being, address underrepresentation at all levels of the organization, and close the API pay gap, API employees are equipped to develop into the future leaders every company needs.
Survey your employees
Are you curious about what your employees need and expect in the workplace? Benchmark your employee experience with the Great Place To Work Certification™.