Hayes et al. (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020) are right to draw our attention to the important legal issues surrounding discrimination. They note that one important consequence of bias is the potential to limit minority group members’ participation in leadership roles. Although this is an important point for all minority groups, one group we feel is consistently overlooked in the discussion of discrimination is Asian Americans. Asian Americans are currently the fastest growing minority in the United States and will be the largest minority in 2055 (Pew Research Center, 2017). However, despite the large and increasing number of Asian Americans in the United States, Asian Americans are largely underrepresented in higher leadership roles, with a recent report by Catalyst (2009) stating that Asian Americans represented only 1.5% of managerial positions in the United States. Although there are many positive stereotypes associated with Asian Americans (e.g., high competence, strong work ethic; Lim, Reference Lim2017), there are several negative stereotypes of Asian Americans as well (e.g., poor communication skills; Zhang, Reference Zhang2010). The influence of these negative stereotypes may explain why Asian Americans are underrepresented in management roles despite being viewed positively in many ways.
In exploring why Asian Americans are currently underrepresented in leadership roles, it is important to understand how leaders are often identified in organizations. The topic of leadership has been of interest to researchers for over 100 years, resulting in a number of theories regarding how individuals develop leadership perceptions (Yukl, Reference Yukl2010). The theory that is perhaps of most interest to the discrimination literature is Lord et al.’s (Reference Lord, Foti and DeVader1984) implicit leadership theory (ILT). ILT postulates that individuals form mental representations, or schemas, for what constitutes a good leader. Representations can be influenced by prior experiences with individuals in leadership roles or contextual factors like race and culture (Koch, Reference Koch2011), as well as other individual mental biases, such as stereotypes. This process results in a leader prototype that the individual can then use as a mental checklist for perceiving and evaluating other individuals they encounter in leadership roles (Lord et al., Reference Lord, Foti and DeVader1984). Therefore, based on this line of thinking, leaders are argued to be perceived and, consequently, selected based on how well their characteristics and qualities map on to the schemas of the individuals evaluating them (Rosette et al., Reference Rosette, Leonardelli and Phillips2008). That is, to the extent to which evaluators hold the schema that good leaders are male and White, they will perceive a minority woman’s leadership potential more poorly because of the mismatch.
Thus, we believe that implicit leadership theory can provide some insight into why Asian Americans are underrepresented in leadership roles. At the heart of ILT is the idea that individuals’ perceptions of leaders are founded on their existing preconceived notions of the characteristics and traits integral in a good leader. Because these schemas function at a more unconscious level, as noted by Hayes et al. (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020), similar to other unconscious biases, organizational decision makers may be unaware of the influence of ILT on how they judge and select employees for leadership roles. More particularly, ILT anticipates that stereotypes about different groups will have an impact on whether individuals are identified as potential leaders and how accessible leadership roles are to these individuals. Drawing from the labor statistics mentioned previously, a group that may be particularly vulnerable to the ILT effect is Asian Americans. Unlike many minority groups, the stereotypes about Asian Americans are particularly complex. In exploring stereotypes about Asian Americans, many researchers have concentrated on the stereotype of the model minority. Generally, a model minority is used to describe a group of individuals that are perceived to be more hardworking and high achieving than the general population (Randall, Reference Randall2007). Although this may sound like a positive ideology to live by, evidence has been found for the pernicious effects of this phenomenon on Asian Americans. Although the model minority stereotype elevates Asian Americans as uniquely hardworking, intelligent, and conscientious (Zhang, Reference Zhang2015), with it comes the underlying notion of single dimensionality. That is, Asian Americans are perceived to encompass only these traits and lack other positive qualities that may be perceptually desirable in a leader. For example, Zhang (Reference Zhang2015) found that Asian Americans are viewed as being intelligent but also as unfriendly and poor communicators. The ability to be personable and to communicate effectively are traits often associated with strong leadership potential. Thus, although Asian Americans are viewed positively in many ways, the specific negative stereotypes associated with Asian Americans are likely inconsistent with most individuals’ leadership schemas, which may result in lowered perceptions of Asian Americans’ leadership abilities.
There is already considerable evidence that stereotypes about Asian Americans impede their upward mobility into leadership roles. Burris et al. (Reference Burris, Ayman, Che and Min2013), for example, explored how Caucasian and Asian Americans are perceived as leaders by a sample of Caucasian and Asian American raters. They found that Caucasians perceived Asian Americans as competent but less sociable and transformational than Caucasians. Similarly, Sy et al. (Reference Sy, Shore, Strauss, Shore, Tram, Whiteley and Ikeda-Muromachi2010) found that Caucasians are viewed as more agentic and consistent with leadership stereotypes than Asian Americans are. More recent research suggests that organizations may require and benefit from implicit bias training tailored specifically toward perceptions of Asian Americans in the workplace. Specifically, one meta-analysis found that overall, individuals who endorsed stereotypes about Asian Americans (both positive and negative) viewed Asian Americans’ leadership potential and ability more negatively (ρ = –.06). How studies in this meta-analysis measured the leadership perceptions of Asian Americans yielded slightly different effects, with a stronger relationship between endorsement of stereotypes and leadership ability of Asian Americans when global leadership measures were used (ρ = .10) than when specific, individual attribute measures were used (ρ = .03). Irrespective of the level of measurement, endorsement of racial attitudes was related to leadership perceptions, suggesting that activation of stereotypes affects endorsement of leadership potential of Asian Americans, regardless of their actual leadership competency (Mouton & Cox, Reference Mouton and Cox2020). This research provides additional support for ILT theory, in that stereotypes of Asian Americans may be so ingrained in society that Asian Americans are immediately dismissed as leadership material when individuals engage in their schematic leadership comparison. Therefore, evidence suggests that stereotypes are serving as a barrier preventing Asian Americans from becoming leaders in organizations, creating a bamboo ceiling (Hyun, Reference Hyun2006).
Thus, we think discrimination training needs to be expanded to explore these negative perceptions of the leadership of Asian Americans. Hayes et al. (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020) noted that antidiscrimination training, whether it focuses on explicit or implicit biases, is potentially successful in altering perceptions (if not actual behavior). Biases toward Asian Americans, however, may be somewhat more complicated, as there are both positive and negative perceptions of Asian Americans. Moreover, researchers and practitioners may be more likely to overlook bias against Asian Americans as an important issue, as Asian Americans are believed to be stereotyped positively not negatively. As a result, society may feel less compelled to address racism and discrimination faced by Asian Americans and enact processes and policy to protect this group. However, it is important to note that it is likely the specific negative stereotypes about Asian Americans that are restraining them from opportunities in leadership roles. Further, given the evidence that Asian Americans are successful in leadership roles (Mouton & Cox, Reference Mouton and Cox2020), unraveling these stereotypes is an important goal for discrimination researchers. Further, we believe that the authors’ suggestion of defining a continuum of harm for unlawful racial discrimination behaviors and etiologies is especially significant, particularly for Asian Americans and their deeply embedded model minority status. In communicating with organizations, it may be useful to describe the model minority myth as part of this continuum of harm, as managers and supervisors may believe these beliefs are positive and may not be aware that these beliefs could limit leadership opportunities for Asian Americans. This may help organizations to recognize that discriminatory behavior may be perceived as innocent and even positive (e.g., the model minority myth), but over time the effects of such behavior negatively limit the professional and developmental career opportunities of a rapidly growing demographic group.
We echo Hayes et al.’s (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020) important call for more research into this area, and in particular we think research into perceptions of Asian Americans’ leadership potential is an important and often-overlooked area where significant research could be conducted. Despite good intentions, organizations that ignore the harmful impact of the model minority are, in fact, furthering a continuum of harm, as the myth limits the opportunities of Asian Americans to obtain leadership roles (see Blackburn, 2019). As suggested by Hayes et al. (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020), we are in agreement that identifying behaviors that comprise bias along a continuum that illustrates the escalation of the intensity of behaviors would be a helpful future direction for the development of antidiscrimination interventions. In the context of Asian Americans, behaviors may start as unconscious biases and then culminate into overt discrimination, such as failing to hire or promote Asian Americans beyond midlevel roles despite their qualifications. As noted by Hayes et al., a majority of the research on unlawful racial discrimination training, particularly reducing implicit racial biases, has been in the hands of social psychologists as opposed to industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists. However, the authors also acknowledged that creating training interventions to address racial biases and consequently, discrimination, is within the I-O psychology skill set, of which we strongly agree. Most importantly, however, is that the mindset in creating these interventions shifts from a one-time debiasing training to one grounded in theory and that has the support of an organization’s leadership. In regard to Asian Americans’ underrepresentation in leadership, organizational decision makers may benefit the most from learning about the social and cognitive psychology behind discrimination and how it has manifested toward this demographic group. However, in order to relay this information to organizations, I-O psychologists themselves need to have a better conceptual understanding of the experiences of Asian Americans.
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Hayes et al. (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020) are right to draw our attention to the important legal issues surrounding discrimination. They note that one important consequence of bias is the potential to limit minority group members’ participation in leadership roles. Although this is an important point for all minority groups, one group we feel is consistently overlooked in the discussion of discrimination is Asian Americans. Asian Americans are currently the fastest growing minority in the United States and will be the largest minority in 2055 (Pew Research Center, 2017). However, despite the large and increasing number of Asian Americans in the United States, Asian Americans are largely underrepresented in higher leadership roles, with a recent report by Catalyst (2009) stating that Asian Americans represented only 1.5% of managerial positions in the United States. Although there are many positive stereotypes associated with Asian Americans (e.g., high competence, strong work ethic; Lim, Reference Lim2017), there are several negative stereotypes of Asian Americans as well (e.g., poor communication skills; Zhang, Reference Zhang2010). The influence of these negative stereotypes may explain why Asian Americans are underrepresented in management roles despite being viewed positively in many ways.
In exploring why Asian Americans are currently underrepresented in leadership roles, it is important to understand how leaders are often identified in organizations. The topic of leadership has been of interest to researchers for over 100 years, resulting in a number of theories regarding how individuals develop leadership perceptions (Yukl, Reference Yukl2010). The theory that is perhaps of most interest to the discrimination literature is Lord et al.’s (Reference Lord, Foti and DeVader1984) implicit leadership theory (ILT). ILT postulates that individuals form mental representations, or schemas, for what constitutes a good leader. Representations can be influenced by prior experiences with individuals in leadership roles or contextual factors like race and culture (Koch, Reference Koch2011), as well as other individual mental biases, such as stereotypes. This process results in a leader prototype that the individual can then use as a mental checklist for perceiving and evaluating other individuals they encounter in leadership roles (Lord et al., Reference Lord, Foti and DeVader1984). Therefore, based on this line of thinking, leaders are argued to be perceived and, consequently, selected based on how well their characteristics and qualities map on to the schemas of the individuals evaluating them (Rosette et al., Reference Rosette, Leonardelli and Phillips2008). That is, to the extent to which evaluators hold the schema that good leaders are male and White, they will perceive a minority woman’s leadership potential more poorly because of the mismatch.
Thus, we believe that implicit leadership theory can provide some insight into why Asian Americans are underrepresented in leadership roles. At the heart of ILT is the idea that individuals’ perceptions of leaders are founded on their existing preconceived notions of the characteristics and traits integral in a good leader. Because these schemas function at a more unconscious level, as noted by Hayes et al. (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020), similar to other unconscious biases, organizational decision makers may be unaware of the influence of ILT on how they judge and select employees for leadership roles. More particularly, ILT anticipates that stereotypes about different groups will have an impact on whether individuals are identified as potential leaders and how accessible leadership roles are to these individuals. Drawing from the labor statistics mentioned previously, a group that may be particularly vulnerable to the ILT effect is Asian Americans. Unlike many minority groups, the stereotypes about Asian Americans are particularly complex. In exploring stereotypes about Asian Americans, many researchers have concentrated on the stereotype of the model minority. Generally, a model minority is used to describe a group of individuals that are perceived to be more hardworking and high achieving than the general population (Randall, Reference Randall2007). Although this may sound like a positive ideology to live by, evidence has been found for the pernicious effects of this phenomenon on Asian Americans. Although the model minority stereotype elevates Asian Americans as uniquely hardworking, intelligent, and conscientious (Zhang, Reference Zhang2015), with it comes the underlying notion of single dimensionality. That is, Asian Americans are perceived to encompass only these traits and lack other positive qualities that may be perceptually desirable in a leader. For example, Zhang (Reference Zhang2015) found that Asian Americans are viewed as being intelligent but also as unfriendly and poor communicators. The ability to be personable and to communicate effectively are traits often associated with strong leadership potential. Thus, although Asian Americans are viewed positively in many ways, the specific negative stereotypes associated with Asian Americans are likely inconsistent with most individuals’ leadership schemas, which may result in lowered perceptions of Asian Americans’ leadership abilities.
There is already considerable evidence that stereotypes about Asian Americans impede their upward mobility into leadership roles. Burris et al. (Reference Burris, Ayman, Che and Min2013), for example, explored how Caucasian and Asian Americans are perceived as leaders by a sample of Caucasian and Asian American raters. They found that Caucasians perceived Asian Americans as competent but less sociable and transformational than Caucasians. Similarly, Sy et al. (Reference Sy, Shore, Strauss, Shore, Tram, Whiteley and Ikeda-Muromachi2010) found that Caucasians are viewed as more agentic and consistent with leadership stereotypes than Asian Americans are. More recent research suggests that organizations may require and benefit from implicit bias training tailored specifically toward perceptions of Asian Americans in the workplace. Specifically, one meta-analysis found that overall, individuals who endorsed stereotypes about Asian Americans (both positive and negative) viewed Asian Americans’ leadership potential and ability more negatively (ρ = –.06). How studies in this meta-analysis measured the leadership perceptions of Asian Americans yielded slightly different effects, with a stronger relationship between endorsement of stereotypes and leadership ability of Asian Americans when global leadership measures were used (ρ = .10) than when specific, individual attribute measures were used (ρ = .03). Irrespective of the level of measurement, endorsement of racial attitudes was related to leadership perceptions, suggesting that activation of stereotypes affects endorsement of leadership potential of Asian Americans, regardless of their actual leadership competency (Mouton & Cox, Reference Mouton and Cox2020). This research provides additional support for ILT theory, in that stereotypes of Asian Americans may be so ingrained in society that Asian Americans are immediately dismissed as leadership material when individuals engage in their schematic leadership comparison. Therefore, evidence suggests that stereotypes are serving as a barrier preventing Asian Americans from becoming leaders in organizations, creating a bamboo ceiling (Hyun, Reference Hyun2006).
Thus, we think discrimination training needs to be expanded to explore these negative perceptions of the leadership of Asian Americans. Hayes et al. (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020) noted that antidiscrimination training, whether it focuses on explicit or implicit biases, is potentially successful in altering perceptions (if not actual behavior). Biases toward Asian Americans, however, may be somewhat more complicated, as there are both positive and negative perceptions of Asian Americans. Moreover, researchers and practitioners may be more likely to overlook bias against Asian Americans as an important issue, as Asian Americans are believed to be stereotyped positively not negatively. As a result, society may feel less compelled to address racism and discrimination faced by Asian Americans and enact processes and policy to protect this group. However, it is important to note that it is likely the specific negative stereotypes about Asian Americans that are restraining them from opportunities in leadership roles. Further, given the evidence that Asian Americans are successful in leadership roles (Mouton & Cox, Reference Mouton and Cox2020), unraveling these stereotypes is an important goal for discrimination researchers. Further, we believe that the authors’ suggestion of defining a continuum of harm for unlawful racial discrimination behaviors and etiologies is especially significant, particularly for Asian Americans and their deeply embedded model minority status. In communicating with organizations, it may be useful to describe the model minority myth as part of this continuum of harm, as managers and supervisors may believe these beliefs are positive and may not be aware that these beliefs could limit leadership opportunities for Asian Americans. This may help organizations to recognize that discriminatory behavior may be perceived as innocent and even positive (e.g., the model minority myth), but over time the effects of such behavior negatively limit the professional and developmental career opportunities of a rapidly growing demographic group.
We echo Hayes et al.’s (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020) important call for more research into this area, and in particular we think research into perceptions of Asian Americans’ leadership potential is an important and often-overlooked area where significant research could be conducted. Despite good intentions, organizations that ignore the harmful impact of the model minority are, in fact, furthering a continuum of harm, as the myth limits the opportunities of Asian Americans to obtain leadership roles (see Blackburn, 2019). As suggested by Hayes et al. (Reference Hayes, Kaylor and Oltman2020), we are in agreement that identifying behaviors that comprise bias along a continuum that illustrates the escalation of the intensity of behaviors would be a helpful future direction for the development of antidiscrimination interventions. In the context of Asian Americans, behaviors may start as unconscious biases and then culminate into overt discrimination, such as failing to hire or promote Asian Americans beyond midlevel roles despite their qualifications. As noted by Hayes et al., a majority of the research on unlawful racial discrimination training, particularly reducing implicit racial biases, has been in the hands of social psychologists as opposed to industrial and organizational (I-O) psychologists. However, the authors also acknowledged that creating training interventions to address racial biases and consequently, discrimination, is within the I-O psychology skill set, of which we strongly agree. Most importantly, however, is that the mindset in creating these interventions shifts from a one-time debiasing training to one grounded in theory and that has the support of an organization’s leadership. In regard to Asian Americans’ underrepresentation in leadership, organizational decision makers may benefit the most from learning about the social and cognitive psychology behind discrimination and how it has manifested toward this demographic group. However, in order to relay this information to organizations, I-O psychologists themselves need to have a better conceptual understanding of the experiences of Asian Americans.