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What is the Bamboo Ceiling?

Updated: Feb 3

You may be familiar with the idea that women encounter glass ceilings - barriers to professional advancement that are often invisible, unofficially understood, and under-acknowledged. Have you heard of the bamboo ceiling? This refers to the specific sets of barriers faced by Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) professionals. AAPI women, for example, encounter not only the glass ceiling, but also the bamboo ceiling. Let’s break down the phenomenon of these intersecting experiences of racial and gender-based oppression.



What is the Bamboo Ceiling?

The term refers to a phenomenon where AAPI employees face barriers or limitations in their career advancement, particularly in leadership positions, due to systemic biases and stereotypes that exist in the workplace. Similar to the glass ceiling, which refers to gender-based barriers, the bamboo ceiling specifically focuses on the challenges faced by AAPI individuals in the workplace.


The Bamboo Ceiling and Language

Immigrants and non-native English speakers may encounter language and cultural barriers in the workplace. These barriers can affect communication and relationship building, further exacerbating the challenges faced by AAPI women and contributing to feelings of isolation or exclusion.


Impact on Career Advancement

The bamboo ceiling significantly hinders the career advancement for AAPI employees. It restricts their opportunities for professional growth, and contributes to a lack of AAPI’s representation in leadership roles. It can also result in reduced job satisfaction, lower self-esteem, and increased stress and mental health challenges.


Intersection of Gender and Race

AAPI women face unique challenges due to the intersection of gender and race in the workplace, confronting both the glass ceiling and the bamboo ceiling. Stereotypes related to both gender and race feed into microaggressions, harassment, and mistaken assumptions about AAPI women’s roles in the workplace, leading many to feel like outsiders even as they advance in their careers.


Many harmful tropes oversimplify, fetishize, and

infantilize AAPI women

  • The "lotus" stereotype portrays AAPI women as passive, submissive, and modest, with an emphasis on physical appearance and traditional gender roles. This stereotype can pigeonhole AAPI women into roles that are perceived as non-confrontational, which can limit opportunities for leadership or advancement.

  • The "dragon lady" stereotype, on the other hand, paints AAPI women as cunning, manipulative, and domineering, resulting in AAPI women being perceived as overly ambitious or threatening in the workplace. This can lead to further bias, discrimination, and exclusion.

Limited Representation in Leadership Roles

AAPI women make up less than 1 percent of promotions, from senior vice president to the C-suite (McKinsey). This lack of representation deprives AAPI women of role models, mentors, and advocates, and contributes to hindering their career advancement and access to networks and resources.


Suggested Actions for Change

In a 2022 article for Time, four prominent AAPI women professionals make the following recommendations for companies and managers to consider implementing to support the advancement of AAPI women.

  • Ellen Pao suggests thinking holistically about building equitable talent pipelines and addressing systemic barriers through transparent recruitment and promotion processes that base decisions on actual results, performance, and potential rather than assumptions,

  • Mythili Sankaran advocates for sponsorship programs that connect high-potential AAPI women with senior executives who can support their movement into leadership roles.

  • Jane Hyun highlights the need for empathetic listening to better recognize and understand the unique perspectives and needs of Asian American employees as they coach their team.

  • Anna Mok emphasizes supporting caregivers within the workplace, allowing for open communication about needs and expectations without professional consequences. This includes creating an environment that acknowledges and supports the multigenerational caregiving responsibilities many AAPI women have.

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