A deep look at the experiences of Asian Americans in tech, including going unheard, getting passed over for promotions, and stereotyped as passive and diligent

Protocol 2021-04-05 Megan Rose Dickey

Context & Ripple Effects

Protocol's deep look extends a reporting thread that has been building since 2019, when TechCrunch surveyed the state of diversity and inclusion in US tech and argued change depended on inclusive-minded CEOs and new startups. The LA Times' compilation of discrimination and microaggression accounts from women, people of color, and LGBTQ tech workers, and Protocol's own reporting on how HR departments protect company interests over complainants, set the stage for this examination of Asian American workers specifically.

What makes this piece distinct is its focus on a group often absent from diversity conversations: the stereotypes of passivity and diligence that keep Asian Americans unheard in meetings and passed over for promotions. Bloomberg's later finding that Asian Americans are the least likely to break into Silicon Valley leadership confirms the pattern this article documents was structural, not anecdotal.

First-order effects

Asian American employees at tech companies now have documented, named patterns — going unheard, being passed over for promotions, being stereotyped as passive and diligent — that challenge the 'model minority' framing that has kept them out of diversity initiatives.

Second-order effects

Companies' diversity and inclusion programs face pressure to address Asian American advancement explicitly, and HR departments already criticized for protecting company interests over employees face added scrutiny over how they handle these complaints.

Third-order effects

If the pattern holds — with Bloomberg's data showing Asian Americans least likely to reach leadership — the industry's leadership pipeline itself comes into question, pushing D&I accountability from hiring metrics toward promotion and advancement outcomes.

The trend: Tech's diversity reckoning is expanding from hiring representation to advancement outcomes, with Asian American workers' exclusion from leadership emerging as the least-examined gap.

Discussion

@alivelshi Ali Velshi on x
AAPI Americans are among the most reluctant to report hate incidents. MSNBC's @RichardLui says it's time for a real AAPI movement to take place in this country to bust the “model minority” myth and prevent Asian-Americans from becoming “a punching bag in tough times” #velshi http…
@aaaj_la @aaaj_la on x
The model minority myth not only creates a false general narrative about the Asian American community but also hides the lives and challenges of the many low-income Asian Americans who work long hours in hospitality and service jobs. https://www.latimes.com/...
@kristina_wong Kristina Wong on x
@KIR_bigg50 Some people complain about Asian Americans being the “model minority”...do they realize how many of their parents came to the US with very little money and how hard many Asian kids work at school? They should not be punished for working hard to get ahead.
@aasian Asia Jackson on x
Did you know that only 23% of Hmong-Americans have a high school diploma? For African Americans this number is 79% and for Hispanics, it's 81% This model minority myth is harmful because it erases the socioeconomic disparities within different Asian communities. https://twitter.c…
@phillyinquirer @phillyinquirer on x
“This tale of rags to riches diminishes the deep history of Asian Americans, everything we have overcome, and the diversity in our experiences,” writes Leo Wang, a resident physician and bioengineer at the University of Pennsylvania. https://www.inquirer.com/...
@yingyi_ma @yingyi_ma on x
“There is a “unique flavor of oppression against Asian people where it's not actually talked about,” https://www.protocol.com/...
@moorehn @moorehn on x
What Asians experience in tech: “Going unheard. Getting passed over for promotions. Stereotyped as ‘passive’ and ‘diligent.’” https://www.protocol.com/...
@protocol @protocol on x
“People see us as good, reliable workforces, but never quite good enough to lead.” https://www.protocol.com/...
@protocol @protocol on x
Asian Americans working in tech are tired of the “model minority” myth. “It's been very hard for people is to see us ... as more than just engineers, as more than just people who are tapping away at the keyboard and writing code.” https://www.protocol.com/...
@meganrosedickey Mrd on x
Learned quite a lot working on this story about the harmful “model minority” myth and how it plays out in the tech industry https://www.protocol.com/...

Chronicles