Shattering Glass, Breaking Bamboo: Business or Karate?
‘Rush Hour’ made us double over with laughter and then left us with a dying urge to learn karate to reach Jackie Chan’s level of badass.
But it took a bit of growing up for some of us to realise that Jackie Chan’s fight wasn’t purely physical in that movie. It made half of us realise there were two more things that needed to be shattered to be in that position: a glass ceiling, then an even tougher bamboo ceiling.
It happens to be that in business, the phrase ‘Rush Hour’ does not quite hold true to its name. Not quite the monotony of being utterly cramped on a chock-a-block full Sydney train at 5pm; it is a rush to meet deadlines, to answer to seniors, but ultimately - to prove one’s self worth. And for Asian women in business today, they are now, finally, gaining well-deserved recognition for smashing through these invisibly burdening obstacles. ‘Bamboo’ obstacles that see them being second preference for promotions, denied full credit for their efforts, or automatically deemed less eloquent speakers - without even having written a word or opened their mouths.
In 2019, Forbes started to award these powerful businesswomen in a new category of accolade - the ‘Asia's Power Businesswomen List’. The list continued through to 2020 as the prominence of women in leadership has started to pervade everyday business discourse. We can take pride in our very own Australian Melanie Perkins who has become the talk of the business street as CEO of Canva, one of the only profitable unicorn startups across the world - also named as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 in 2016. In particular, the start-up world has had 12.1% of all venture capital deals captured by solely female-founded companies. And within businesses, we are starting to see increased diversity as women and male became more equal counterparts (emphasis on more): PwC and EY hold 43% and 41% of women in leadership positions respectively; 41% of Morgan Stanley’s workforce is women. It may not be specific to minorities and people of colour, but all in all, it is a step forward.
But there are many more powerful Asian businesswomen who we have yet to hear of on the main stage. To name a few: Zhao Yan - CEO of Bloomage Biotechnology, Roshini Nadar Malhotra - CEO of HCL Technologies, Maki Akaida - CEO of Uniqlo Japan. Likewise, despite women finally trickling their way into leadership positions, the proportion of Asian business women making their way up has a long, long way to go. Large investment banking, private equity, and consulting firms have started to truly consider women in leadership positions during recruitment alongside their male equivalents. Perhaps it can be argued that the glass ceiling is ever so slowly being chipped away. The next layer up - the bamboo ceiling - will take even more force to snap and break through. But it will not be impossible.
Even then, there is still more to do in this area. Some Asian races remain underrepresented - for example, only 4 of the 25 business women on the 2020 Forbes list are from South-East Asia. Equally for women from other minority groups, such as African-Americans and Indigenous peoples, we should continue to recognise their accomplishments through these albeit ‘categorised’ lists. They should be lifted to the pedestal they deservedly should be displayed on, so that they can pave the way for future generations.
Not all of us can kick-butt like Jackie Chan or have a sidekick like Carter to dance to ‘War’, but the new Mulan and Shang-Chi movies bring more self-defense into the business sphere. And so, there is no doubt that the Asian women reading this article will take turns in having their name on those lists for years to come.
‘Rush Hour’ made us double over with laughter and then left us with a dying urge to learn karate to reach Jackie Chan’s level of badass.
But it took a bit of growing up for some of us to realise that Jackie Chan’s fight wasn’t purely physical in that movie. It made half of us realise there were two more things that needed to be shattered to be in that position: a glass ceiling, then an even tougher bamboo ceiling.
It happens to be that in business, the phrase ‘Rush Hour’ does not quite hold true to its name. Not quite the monotony of being utterly cramped on a chock-a-block full Sydney train at 5pm; it is a rush to meet deadlines, to answer to seniors, but ultimately - to prove one’s self worth. And for Asian women in business today, they are now, finally, gaining well-deserved recognition for smashing through these invisibly burdening obstacles. ‘Bamboo’ obstacles that see them being second preference for promotions, denied full credit for their efforts, or automatically deemed less eloquent speakers - without even having written a word or opened their mouths.
In 2019, Forbes started to award these powerful businesswomen in a new category of accolade - the ‘Asia's Power Businesswomen List’. The list continued through to 2020 as the prominence of women in leadership has started to pervade everyday business discourse. We can take pride in our very own Australian Melanie Perkins who has become the talk of the business street as CEO of Canva, one of the only profitable unicorn startups across the world - also named as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 in 2016. In particular, the start-up world has had 12.1% of all venture capital deals captured by solely female-founded companies. And within businesses, we are starting to see increased diversity as women and male became more equal counterparts (emphasis on more): PwC and EY hold 43% and 41% of women in leadership positions respectively; 41% of Morgan Stanley’s workforce is women. It may not be specific to minorities and people of colour, but all in all, it is a step forward.
But there are many more powerful Asian businesswomen who we have yet to hear of on the main stage. To name a few: Zhao Yan - CEO of Bloomage Biotechnology, Roshini Nadar Malhotra - CEO of HCL Technologies, Maki Akaida - CEO of Uniqlo Japan. Likewise, despite women finally trickling their way into leadership positions, the proportion of Asian business women making their way up has a long, long way to go. Large investment banking, private equity, and consulting firms have started to truly consider women in leadership positions during recruitment alongside their male equivalents. Perhaps it can be argued that the glass ceiling is ever so slowly being chipped away. The next layer up - the bamboo ceiling - will take even more force to snap and break through. But it will not be impossible.
Even then, there is still more to do in this area. Some Asian races remain underrepresented - for example, only 4 of the 25 business women on the 2020 Forbes list are from South-East Asia. Equally for women from other minority groups, such as African-Americans and Indigenous peoples, we should continue to recognise their accomplishments through these albeit ‘categorised’ lists. They should be lifted to the pedestal they deservedly should be displayed on, so that they can pave the way for future generations.
Not all of us can kick-butt like Jackie Chan or have a sidekick like Carter to dance to ‘War’, but the new Mulan and Shang-Chi movies bring more self-defense into the business sphere. And so, there is no doubt that the Asian women reading this article will take turns in having their name on those lists for years to come.
