Stepping Forward
Historically not viewed as leaders, Asian Americans say, they are taking steps to create a leadership pipeline in the academy.
By Lydia Lum
As Butler University President Bobby Fong was reviewing applications a few years ago for a national fellows program that grooms future leaders of higher education, he casually asked how many Asian Pacific Americans were under consideration.
None.
The reason? None had applied.
A disappointed Fong urged the American Council on Education, which operated the program, to send letters, with his signature, asking university presidents to have APAs apply. Without such efforts, APA presidents such as himself will remain rarities at U.S. colleges, Fong says.
According to ACE, there were only 57 colleges or universities with Asian Pacific American presidents in 2004. Most of the presidents were men. Fong and his peers say that among those 57, the majority preside at community colleges, campuses in the University of Hawaii system and at for-profit, regionally accredited degree-granting institutions.
“Black Americans worry their leadership pipeline will dry up,” says Fong, who has led Butler since 2001. “We, as Asian Americans, worry about even having a pipeline.”
The dearth of APA presidents, vice presidents and high-ranking administrators in academia has multiple causes, Fong and others say. APAs have been stereotyped as hard workers and good managers, but they don’t make it through the so-called bamboo ceiling because they aren’t historically viewed as leaders, even in the business sector and in politics. Traditionally, APAs have been less likely to seek positions in the upper echelon in large part due to cultural values that emphasize modesty over self-promotion and silent acceptance of the status quo over aggressive calls for change. APAs also have lacked role models and mentors.
