Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling: Practical Strategies for Asian American and Pacific Islander Counselor Educators

Abstract

Asian counselor educators in predominantly White institutions face challenges that are not shared by their White colleagues or by other faculty of color. This article outlines the barriers for Asian counselor educators and establishes a call to action for researchers to act in ways that support Asian faculty retention and success.

“Listen louder”: Counselor trainee understanding of diversity in diagnosis

“…When counselor educators were called to teach in uncertain times during the COVID‐19 pandemic, they were also challenged to recognize and integrate knowledge learned from the long‐term social unrest that has permeated our society (Storlie et al, 2021). Critical issues remain in counseling and counselor education related to dimensions of identity including but not limited to African Americans (Williams et al., 2021), Asian American and Pacific Islanders (Litam & Chan, 2021), gender (Macombs–Hunter & Bhat, 2020) and gender identity (Chavez‐Korell & Johnson, 2010), culture and ethnicity (Authors, 2021), and ability (Rivas & Hill, 2018). As counselors are called to integrate multiculturalism into all aspects of counseling (ACA, 2014; Ratts, et al., 2015), counselor educators need to take action to ensure that the infusion of diversity in coursework moves beyond cultural sensitivity (ACES, 2016).…”

Hamari Kahani - Indo-Fijian American women in higher education leadership

“…Many AAPI women's studies have explored the challenges and struggles associated with professional development and growth in higher education (Beck, 2003;Chen & Hune, 2011;DeGuzman et al, 2012;Lee, 2018;Valverde & Dariotis, 2020;Litam & Chan, 2021;Yamagata-Noji & Gee, 2012). The challenges and struggles are often related to AAPI women as being "presumed incompetent, not because of [AAPI women's] teaching, scholarship, or service, but because of the biased presumptions associated with [AAPI women's] gender, sex, sexual orientation, color, race, national origin, ethnic group identification, citizenship status, accent, age, disability, religion, marital status, motherhood, and personhood" (Valverde & Dariotis, 2020, p. ix).…”

“…Barriers to AAPI women's advancement and development as leaders and into leadership roles can be attributed to the multiple identities such as culture, ethnicity, religion, socioeconomic statuses, gender, age, and family that are incongruent with institutional culture (Beck, 2003;Chen & Hune, 2011;DeGuzman et al, 2012;Lee, 2018;Valverde & Dariotis, 2020;Litam & Chan, 2021;Yamagata-Noji & Gee, 2012). Institutional culture plays an integral role in the challenges and obstacles of AAPI women's advancement and negotiating their roles within higher education (Furr et al, 2012;Yamagata-Noji & Gee, 2012).…”

“…AAPI women's career advancements are examined through a pipeline problem (Yamagata-Noji & Gee, 2012), gains and leaks in the pipeline (Chen & Hune, 2011), bamboo ceiling (Lee, 2018;Litam & Chan, 2021), and glass ceilings (Beck, 2003). Regardless of the metaphor used to describe the phenomena, it has been well documented that career advancement for AAPI women has been dismal and, in some cases, nonexistent (Valverde & Dariotis, 2020).…”

An exploration into the best practices that support the underrepresentation of Asian American female leaders in higher education: an action research study

“…Even with the continued growth of the Asian American population and increasing diversity, the rising visibility of advocacy and activism among Asian American women leaders' experiences is seldom addressed in the literature. According to Litam and Chan (2021), the model minority myth has been used against AAPI communities and the experiences and identities of AAPI are discounted from research in higher education.…”