Introduction: Understanding Work Stress

In the fast-paced and demanding world of work, stress is an inevitable companion for many. From tight deadlines to high expectations, the pressures of the professional sphere can take a toll on one's mental well-being. Recognizing the signs and seeking professional help for job-related stress is not a sign of weakness but a proactive step toward a healthier, more balanced life. Work stress may seem like an ordinary part of life but there’s increasing evidence that work stress is associated with serious mental health conditions and suicide. Work stress can manifest in various ways, affecting not only your mental health but also your physical well-being. Persistent work stress can lead to burnout, anxiety, and depression.

While work stress appears to be universal to some degree, Asian Americans face unique challenges in the workplace. It’s important to understand these challenges, whether you are an employee or a person who manages employees.

In this article, I discuss three common themes from my work with Asian American clients around work stress.

Work Stress for Asian Americans: Isn’t Work Stress the Same for Everyone?

While intermittent spikes in stress are part of life and part of work for most people, for Asian Americans, there are some unique contributing factors and challenges that require a nuanced and informed approach. The topic of how Asian American mental health is impacted by racism is a big one and the focus of this article is on common themes I’ve encountered in my practice as a Licensed Psychologist specializing in Asian American mental health.

1. Model Minority Myth

   One of the main challenges faced by Asian Americans in the workplace is the stereotyping associated with the “Model Minority” myth, which portrays Asians as uniformly successful and high-achieving. This stereotype oversimplifies the diverse experiences within the Asian American community and leads to erroneous conclusions about Asian workers, such as being financially privileged. The stereotype also minimizes the barriers and challenges Asian Americans overcome in order to advance educationally and professionally. This stereotype is often the foundation of the implicit bias that many Asian Americans experience in the workplace.

   In my experience, a common way this stereotype impacts workplace interactions is when Asian American workers are not recognized for their contributions despite observable differences in workload or difficulty of tasks. Over the years, I’ve heard from Asian clients, colleagues, and friends that some work teams take their hard work for granted. The assumption that an Asian American individual will work hard and provide a successful deliverable can also lead to not prioritizing their requests and needs in terms of resources in the workplace. Implicit bias shaped by the Model Minority Myth can lead to unfair judgments in evaluating not just resource allocation, but also work performance. For more information about how the Model Minority Myth can play out in the workplace, this is an excellent article from the Harvard Business Review (and it includes some good advice).

2. The Bamboo Ceiling:

   Despite educational achievements, Asian Americans may encounter barriers in reaching leadership positions—a phenomenon known as the “Bamboo Ceiling.” This is a problem that has been consistently illustrated by analyses of leadership by many different organizations. One striking example is a presentation from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which showed that among companies of the S&P 500 (the largest companies listed on the stock exchange), there were 16 Asian CEOs, compared to 440 white CEOs. According to the Association for Psychological Science, another example is from the tech industry:

   "Even in technology, where Asians are the ethnic group most likely to be hired (over 30% of the workforce), they are the least likely to be promoted to senior leadership positions (less than 15% of executives).”

   The most likely explanation of the Bamboo Ceiling phenomenon is racist stereotypes about Asians being passive or lacking leadership qualities. When Asian American workers are viewed as not possessing the leadership qualities deemed desirable in certain corporate cultures, it’s never explicitly phrased as related to race. In my experience with clients, this can create a lot of pain and anxiety for Asian American workers who have the ambition to get promoted and lead, but find that despite their hard work and proven competence, they are repeatedly unable to reach the highest strata in a company or industry. What can exacerbate the situation is when they see their non-Asian counterparts with less experience and/or education get the very opportunities for which they are rejected.

   The Bamboo Ceiling limits the ability of Asian Americans to obtain leadership positions and influence organizational decision-making. In addition, not seeing people who look like them in leadership can lead to a sense that Asian Americans are invisible and unimportant, thus reinforcing the marginalization of Asian Americans. On a more individual level, the lack of representation in leadership can lead to the belief that an Asian American worker’s career progression or opportunities are limited by their race/ethnicity, which can be demoralizing.

   Asian American women face a "double glass ceiling" due to both gender and racial biases. Overcoming stereotypes related to both gender and ethnicity can be particularly challenging. Some specific stereotypes that come up in the workplace include the perception of Asian women as docile or weak. Many of my AAPI women clients have reported feeling like the standards for their performance are higher and that they have to prove they are worthy of their position or promotion as an Asian woman.

3. Microaggressions:

   Microaggressions, whether subtle or unintentional, can lead to feelings of alienation and isolation, which, over time can contribute to creating an unsafe and distressing work environment for Asian Americans. Microagressions in the workplace can show up as comments about accents or cultural practices or food. They can also be expressed as assumptions about a person's background. Mispronouncing or not making an effort to learn the correct pronunciation of an Asian person’s name is also a kind of microaggression that often shows up in the workplace.

   One of the challenges for Asian Americans who encounter microaggressions in the workplace is not knowing how to react and whether or not they should call their co-worker out. For some individuals, the responsibility of educating their non-Asian colleagues may feel burdensome, unfair, and overwhelming. For others, it may not even be an option on the table to confront a colleague about something they said, out of fear of severing a relationship or being viewed as a complainer. Ultimately, there is no perfect or right way to try to cope with such a difficult experience, particularly in the workplace, as it is not necessarily the place where we show up as our whole selves. If microaggressions are frequent and normal in a non-diverse workplace, the stress of these encounters can contribute to chronic stress and burnout.

What to Do With This Information

Next week, I’ll be publishing Part 2 of this article, which focuses on ways to cope with work stress. In that article, I’ll be discussing self-help approaches, as well as how working with a therapist can support recovery from work stress.