Is the US’ ‘bamboo ceiling’ slowing East Asian career progress?

When Yinuo Li made partner at global consulting firm McKinsey & Company in 2012, she was proud of her accomplishment. A classic overachiever, she had graduated from Beijing’s elite Tsinghua University in 2000 and received a PhD in molecular biology at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2004 before joining McKinsey the following year.

In addition to a stereotype that East Asians lack leadership skills, studies suggest they are seen as lacking in creativity, assertiveness and communication skills and, while competent, are not warm and sociable.

One problem is that many of the attributes traditionally valued in Confucian East Asian societies – modesty, reticence, thinking of others first, letting your work speak for itself – are perceived as weaknesses in the loud, brash, self-promoting West, particularly the United States.

The point is not to pit different Asian minorities against each other, said Li. But having a strong point of view, seeking visibility, being assertive and vocalising opinions with conviction – common ingredients of success in the US – do not always come naturally to East Asians and can even appear rude among those taught not to challenge authority figures.

Some studies suggest East Asians also tend to be more insular than other ethnic groups, socialising more among themselves than with outsiders, undercutting the social networks and reputation needed to forge broader leadership credentials.

Li was among several successful East Asians brought together recently by the Committee of 100 civic group for a bit of soul searching on their own struggle with bamboo ceilings. As their careers played out, most said they developed workarounds.

Former US ambassador to China Gary Locke said he realised as a young