Understanding barriers to success is critical to overcoming them and progressing forward. And in many cases, collaboration is critical in overcoming barriers once they’re identified. This was the approach that the Asian American Business Development Center (AABDC) took when it sought to understand the role of race, gender, stereotypes and opportunity for Asian American women.
As the AABDC started to explore the topic, the group was surprised to find only one research paper on the challenges that Asian women have in reaching executive status. The paper, published by the Ascend Foundation, found that Asian women have the lowest probability among all demographics of reaching executive status. Surprised to find so little research on the subject, the AABDC, which promotes the development of Asian American entrepreneurs, executives and corporate leaders, enlisted Nielsen in February of this year to help uncover the “why” behind the “what” of the research paper’s key finding in order to help identify strategies to shift the trend in a more positive direction.
Through Nielsen Cares and our Data for Good pro bono program, Nielsen collaborated with AABDC in spring 2019 on a qualitative study of Asian American women in leadership roles. We analyzed findings from guided interviews for trends, and Mariko Carpenter, VP, Strategic Community Alliances, and Idil Cakim, VP, Media Analytics, presented the findings at the AABDC’s Asian American Women Leadership Conference in New York at the Bank of America Tower on May 10.
尼尔森-美国亚裔商业发展委员会的公益研究旨在确定快速增长的亚裔美国妇女在商业领域的共性，并为正在为亚裔美国妇女的职业发展创造机会的组织提供信息。访谈强调了种族、民族和/或性别陈规定型观念、导师和赞助人、员工资源小组（ERGs）和知名度的影响，从而得出了几个重要结论：
成功的亚裔美国妇女拥有打破种族/族裔陈规定型观念的力量
On the path to success, reputation and visibility are key. Many interviewees credited their Asian American, female identity as the source of stereotyping toward quietness, obedience and introversion that would not work well in team management, revenue responsible or executive roles. These women broke down the stereotypes by creating and sharing metrics for their success. In addition to delivering good work, Asian-American leaders can elevate their profiles by finding paths to share their work and showcase their expertise.
亚裔美国女性领导人可以填补导师和赞助人的空白
赞助人对于打开新的大门至关重要。对于一些受访者来说，她们的重要赞助人并不是亚裔美国女性同胞，而是来自不同背景、种族等的男性和女性。今天，当亚裔美国妇女在高层还没有足够的代表性时，跨文化群体寻找赞助人可能仍然是必要的。不过，成功的、经验丰富的亚裔美国妇女也可以为年轻一代带来机会铺平道路。
员工支持小组可通过专业发展促进职业发展
当被问及员工资源小组时，受访者承认，仅有文化活动和庆祝活动是不够的。员工资源小组必须倾听特定员工群体的发展和培训需求，并提供成长机会。作为专业发展团体，员工支持小组不仅可以发掘文化，还可以培养关键的业务技能（如网络、谈判、演讲、财务）。
