Socio-Cultural Factors and the Work Environment

Employees are affected not only by internal organizational environments but also by external ones such as family, community, and society. Social and cultural factors affect how employees are viewed by others in the organization as well as how they respond to their work environments. Immigrants, in particular, are affected by their acculturation processes. Thus, when employees negotiate organizational workplaces, they need to factor in the influence of socio-cultural forces. Stereotyping is one way in which the external environment is manifest in workplaces. It has been found to be persistent, influential, and deeply impactful on careers. Stereotypes are affected by social and cultural factors, and in turn, they affect workplaces by shaping employees' perceptions and experiences. At the same time, the external environment can also present positive attributes for employees, for instance by being a source of social and emotional capital.

Structures and Functioning of Business Organizations

The experience of Asian women in corporate America is largely one of working in organizational workplaces. Thus, it is important for employees to understand the structures and functioning of organizations. This chapter discusses research and foundational concepts in organizational structures, specifically as they related to businesses. The profit motive that drives businesses affects how employees' careers unfold within them. Specifically, it affects metrics for performance evaluation. The various organizational positions an individual occupies shapes her career path. The placement of an employee's work position within the hierarchy has numerous implications. For instance, positions are attached to decision making responsibilities and influence. Power is a significant aspect of organizational functioning that is often overlooked by employees who rely primarily on technical performance to propel their careers forward. This chapter addresses these topics as well as performance evaluation, which is the final determinant of an employee's career progress.

Mentoring, Networks, and Leadership

Relationships of many kinds exist within organizations. They can be related to reporting structures, such as those with supervisors and direct reports, or they can result from work overlaps, such as relationships with co-workers in the department or colleagues on committees. Mentorship is a special kind of work relationship that is often tied to professional outcomes. Workplace friendships, both deep and casual, that cut across structural boundaries are not uncommon. These workplace relationships vary widely in terms of the benefits that accrue from them as well as the effort required in maintaining them. At the same time, managing work relationships has a critical impact on career experiences and career progress. In this chapter, the authors discuss research on various types of organizational relationships and their implications for Asian women.

Asian Women in America

The presence of Asians in the U.S. has a lengthy history, although not a very well documented one. This book is concerned with the presence of Asian women in American corporations, which spans a shorter period. The beginnings of a significant increase in the numbers of Asian women in American workplaces can be traced to the 1960s. Since then, Asian women have entered all spheres of American life, including but not limited to businesses, government, education, healthcare, and nonprofits. The experiences of Asian women in American workplaces overlap with that of women in general as well as that of Asian men. Yet, certain aspects of Asian women's experiences are unique to them. This chapter provides a brief historical overview of Asian women's entry into American workspaces and their professional experiences. It also discusses the contexts in which to view Asian women in American corporate environments.

Organizational Diversity and Culture

An organizational workforce is not a monolith. Organizational diversity is a catch-all term that implies that employees are different in ways that impact their interaction with, and their experience of, working in the organization. It also suggests that the organization is cognizant of these differences. Diversity is widely accepted as a growing and integral part of the workplace. This diversity does not detract from organizations' reliance on their employees to perform their roles and work with others. Thus, organizations strive to find effective and efficient means to address employee concerns and respond to employee needs related to diversity. Workplace culture is important in this context and plays a key role in influencing all employees. The understanding of what differentiates employees from each other changes with social perceptions and as the composition of the workforce itself alters over time. In the current social environment, Asian women are understood to be a group that represents workplace diversity.

Organizational Careers

An organizational career is located within an organization and consists of the positions held by an employee within its structure. The management of organizational careers has been well studied. Career management strategies and approaches had originally assumed that employees wanted not only to remain in their organization but to progress upward in its hierarchy. However, more recent research has noted that this was not true for all individuals; some people were content to remain at a certain level and others were open to moving between organizations. Thus, a view of careers needs to allow for a variety of career motivations and include the possibility of frequent movement across organizations. In this chapter, the authors discuss different patterns and orientations of organizational careers. They also discuss the choice of professions and work experiences of Asian women in the past and the career environments they are likely to experience in the future.

Conclusions, Forecasts, and Recommendations

In the concluding chapter, the authors present a sketch of what Asian women can expect in generic organizational workplaces. Their work experience is informed by the work environment as well as by outside factors, including family, community, and society. They present a view of organizational careers, past and present, and (likely) forecasts for the workplace of the future with specific recommendations for this group of women. Finally, based on the material presented in the preceding chapters, they identify paths for future research in this subject area.

Social and Organizational Identities

Identity refers to a sense of self. It is a complex notion that influences an individual's values, attitudes, and behaviors and can change over an individual's life span. In organizational settings, identity is a powerful force driving employees' motivations, decisions, and actions. Organizations recognize that employees have identities arising from personal and private parts of their lives. At the same time, organizations encourage their employees to develop a (strong) sense of identity as organizational members. Workplaces are thus intriguing environments in which individuals are required to manage and negotiate various identities, both social (personal) and organizational. In this chapter, the authors discuss theories that explain how individuals develop a sense of identity. They then discuss identities that are relevant to Asian American women in work environments. The social identities pertinent in this context include ethnic and racial identities and the model minority stereotype. Work identities, in contrast, include professional and organizational identities.