8Asians reported a recent University of California – Riverside study that shows the while Asian Americans are viewed as the model minority, they are perceived to be less effective leaders than Caucasian Americans.  According to Physorg,

“in a groundbreaking study, researchers found that “race trumps other salient characteristics, such as one’s occupation, regarding perceptions of who is a good leader.”

This doesn’t seem particularly groundbreaking to many Asian American leaders. Folks like Jane Hyun of “Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling” and David Lum of Motorola have spoken about hidden biases that affect Asian American’s rate of promotions to senior or executive level positions for years. Asian Americans are often viewed as technically able and a model minority group that is overrepresented and “okay.” Yet when it comes to leadership, they are seen as less competent, socially inept, and weak leaders.

Maybe this study will get even more people to take note of their own assumptions, including the notion of the “model minority.” I highly recommend Hyun’s book as a place to start:

Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling

Check out the summary of the study here, which will be published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.