Resources for Shattering the Bamboo Ceiling: Fall 2022 Edition

Four Asian American people standing under a banner that reads overcoming the bamboo ceiling

To complement TIE‘s fall semester podcast with Dr. Adriene Lim on library leadership and the bamboo ceiling (watch the video preview here), TIE contributors Mihoko Hosoi and Denise Pan have compiled a helpful and insightful list of resources that explore the bamboo ceiling phenomenon in depth, dissecting the ways in which structural factors often limit or impede the career growth of people of Asian descent. These works offer many valuable insights that can be applied to DEIA work being done both within and beyond the academy. We extend our deepest thanks to both Mihoko and Denise for this powerful list.

  1. Against the Odds: Reflections on Asian American Identity and Multicultural, Shared Leadership in Academic Libraries” by Adriene Lim (in Asian American Librarians and Library Services, published by Rowman & Littlefield, 2017)
  2. Asian American and Pacific Islander Faculty and the Bamboo Ceiling: Barriers to Leadership and Implications for Leadership Development” (2019) by Fiona Lee
  3. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Academe: Race and Gender through the Tenure Pipeline from 1993-2017” (2022) by Grace MyHyun Kim and North Cooc (paywalled)
  4. Asian Americans Battle ‘Invisibility’ In Bid to Break Through the Bamboo Ceiling” (2014) by Lekan Oguntoyinbo
  5. Asian Americans Are the Least Likely Group in the U.S. to Be Promoted to Management” (2018) by Buck Gee and Denise Peck
  6. Attainment of Academic Library Leadership by Asian Americans: Challenges and Development” (2015) by Binh P. Le
  7. Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Career Strategies for Asians (2005) by Jane Hyun
  8. Breaking The Bamboo Ceiling: How Asian Managers Can Lead For Success” (2020) by Kevin Kan
  9. Glass Ceilings and Asian Americans: The New Face of Workplace Barriers (2000) by Deborah Woo
  10. Good Workers — Not Leaders: Unconscious Biases That Stall AAPI Advancement” (2021) by the Association of Asian American Investment Managers.
  11. Hidden in Plain Sight: Asian American Leaders in Silicon Valley” (2015) by Buck Gee, Denise Peck, and Janet Wong
  12. How It Feels to Be Asian in U.S. Academic Libraries and Higher Education: A Systematic Review of Challenges and Coping Strategies” (2022) by Mihoko Hosoi*
  13. The Illusion of Asian success: Scant Progress for Minorities in Cracking the Glass Ceiling from 2007-2015” (2017) by Buck Gee and Denise Peck
  14. Is There a Bamboo Ceiling? The Asian-White Gap in Managerial Attainment for College-Educated Workers” (2022) by Di Shao (paywalled)
  15. The Impact of Organizational Performance on the Emergence of Asian American Leaders” (2019) by Seval Gündemir, Andrew M. Carton, and Astrid C. Homan
  16. Key facts about Asian Americans, a diverse and growing population” (2021) by Abby Budiman and Neil G. Ruiz
  17. The Leadership Experiences of Asian Americans” (2013) by Debra M. Kawahara, Monica S. Pal, and Jean Lau Chin
  18. Navigating Power and Politics: Women of Color Senior Leaders in Academe (2012) dissertation by Belinda Jung-Lee Huang
  19. Recent Developments Hitting the Ceiling: An Examination of Barriers to Success for Asian American Women” (2014) by Peggy Li
  20. Revisiting the Bamboo Ceiling: Perceptions from Asian Americans on Experiencing Workplace Discrimination” (2020) by Helen H. Yu (paywalled)
  21. A Social Network Perspective on the Bamboo Ceiling: Ethnic Homophily Explains Why East Asians but Not South Asians Are Underrepresented in Leadership in Multiethnic Environments” (2022) by Jackson G. Lu
  22. Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don’t Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder (2020) by Margaret M. Chin
  23. Why Aren’t There More Asian Americans in Leadership Positions?” (2016) by Stefanie K. Johnson and Thomas Sy
  24. Why East Asians but not South Asians are underrepresented in leadership positions in the United States” (2020) by Jackson G. Lu, Richard E. Nisbett, and Michael W. Morris
  25. Why So few Asians are college presidents” (2013) by Santa J. Ono

*Titles added as of November 29, 2022

TIE is grateful to Mihoko Hosoi and Denise Pan for curating this specialized list:

Mihoko Hosoi's headshot

Mihoko Hosoi

Associate Dean for Collections Research and Scholarly Communications, Pennsylvania State University

Denise Pan's headshot

Denise Pan

Senior Associate Dean for Collections & Strategic Partnerships, University of Washington Libraries