A creativity stereotype perspective on the Bamboo Ceiling: Low perceived creativity explains the underrepresentation of East Asian leaders in the United States.

Abstract

The "Bamboo Ceiling" refers to the perplexing phenomenon that, despite the educational and economic achievements of East Asians (e.g., ethnic Chinese, Koreans) in the United States, they are disproportionately underrepresented in leadership positions. To help elucidate this phenomenon, we propose a novel theoretical perspective: East Asians are underselected for leadership positions partially because they are stereotyped as lacking creativity, a prized leadership attribute in U.S. culture. We first tested our proposition in two field studies in a natural setting: Across 33 full class sections of 2,304 Master of Business Administration (MBA) students in a U.S. business program, East Asians were perceived by their classmates as less creative than other ethnicities (e.g., South Asian, White) at the beginning of the MBA program-when the students had limited interactions and thus were likely influenced by creativity stereotypes. Lower perceived creativity mediated why East Asians were less likely than other ethnicities to be nominated (Study 1) and elected (Study 2) as class-section leaders by their classmates. These patterns were robust after accounting for variables such as assertiveness (parallel mediator), leadership motivation, English proficiency, and demographics. These findings were conceptually replicated in two preregistered vignette experiments of non-Asian Americans with managerial experience (Studies 3 and 4, N = 1,775): Compared to candidates of other ethnicities, East Asian American candidates with a substantively identical profile were viewed as less leader-like as a function of lower perceived creativity. Overall, although East Asians are commonly stereotyped as competent, they are also stereotyped as lacking creativity, which can hinder their leadership emergence in U.S. organizations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).