‘Bamboo ceiling’ still hindering Asian leadership roles

Australian organisations must break the bamboo ceiling and include more Asian-Australians in leadership roles to reflect their broader representation in society, an expert says.

Writer Michelle Law has been announced as winner of the 2022 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Award for arts and culture. Picture: Jane Dempster

Australia’s “bamboo ceiling” remains stubbornly hard to break through for those with Asian heritage, despite workplace diversity programs now a ubiquitous feature of corporate life.

And Asian-Australians continue to face racism, discrimination and bias in their everyday lives, with the added burden of feeling pressure to “fit in”, more so than other non-Anglo or European-Australians, a leading cultural diversity advocate warns.

Jieh-Yung Lo, founding director of the Australian National University Centre for Asian-Australian Leadership, said perceptions of what makes a strong leader continued to be “westernised and monocultural” despite almost one in five people in Australia having an Asian background. “People still think of leadership as a six-foot-two white bloke, an extrovert and image builder,” Mr Lo said.

“Asian-Australians tend to concentrate on job skills and achievements rather than working on their personal brand and networks,” he said.

“If we want our leadership to reflect our society we need to broaden our perception of what a leader is to accommodate more cultural diversity,” he said.

Mr Lo said around 18 per cent of people in Australia have an Asian cultural heritage, a proportion that has grown quickly in the past decade, yet only about 3 per cent of senior management positions are held by Asian-Australians.

“A recurring concern expressed by many Asian-Australians is they feel under constant pressure – more so than other non-Anglo or European Australians – to change their behaviour for the purpose of ‘fitting in’,” Mr Lo said.

Jieh-Yung Lo.

One pushing up against the bamboo ceiling is writer Michelle Law, announced on Monday night as winner of the 2022 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Award for arts and culture.

“Compared to other sectors, arts and culture is not a place where you find that many Asian-Australians,” Law said. “You are beginning to see more representation in the arts themselves, but in leadership and decision-making positions the progress has not been nearly as fast. My personal experience is being forced to prove myself time and time again, when others who are less qualified are being given greater opportunities.

“I’d say for Asian-Australians, or anyone from a marginalised background, the dreaded word ‘quotas’ would be a positive step to address inequality,” she said.

Mr Lo said the most recent data on discrimination and bias against Asian-Australians, taken in 2019 and 2020, were unlikely to have improved.

ANU research in 2020 reported 84.5 per cent of surveyed Asian-Australians report experiencing discrimination in Australia, the highest among all the self-identified ethnic groups.

A 2019 survey found the most common barriers to Asian-Australians obtaining leadership positions in business, professional and other organisational roles cited by Asian-Australians themselves were “stereotypes associated with the group” (42 per cent) and “discrimination” (44 per cent).

“For too long, Asian-Australians have been spectators of the leadership journey rather than being onstage,” he said.

The overall winner in the Under 40 Influential Australian Awards is Vietnamese-Australian Tu Le, who was denied ALP preselection for the NSW seat of Fowler when Kristina Keneally was shoe-horned in. Ms Le won the overall award in recognition of her work advocating for exploited temporary visa and migrant workers.