UC Merced

Sociological research on Asian Americans generally portrays Asian Americans as a high achieving group in the U.S. educational system and as a “model minority.” But how have Asians fared in the U.S. labor market? What is the labor market standing of Asians compared to whites and other racial groups? Have Asians really achieved labor market equity with whites? I argue that because of racial stigma and exclusion, Asians sometimes achieve labor market parity with whites, but Asians do not experience equity in labor markets relative to whites. Asians are still a minority in the labor market who suffer from processes and disadvantages of racialization that impede their advancement at work. By investigating nationwide datasets using statistical methods, this dissertation research seeks to show that Asians do not attain managerial authority, high status occupations, or pay levels commensurate with their levels of education and human capital acquisition.Investigating data from the General Social Survey, Chapter 2 discusses Asian underrepresentation in occupational positions of authority. Using binomial and ordinal logistic regression models, this reveals that Asians have lower odds of being positioned in top management occupations than whites and even other non-whites after controlling for educational attainment and social capital indicators. Whereas other non-white workers occupied the bottom layer of the hierarchy at higher rates, Asians were most likely to occupy intermediate professional occupations, all other conditions being equal. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Chapter 3 reveals that Asians are more likely than whites to receive nonmanagerial internal promotions, controlling for demographic and work characteristics. But non-managerial promotions and human capital acquisition for Asians did not lead to comparable rates of subsequent managerial promotion. Instead, controlling for past promotions, whites were considerably more likely than Asians to receive managerial promotions. Exploring data from the American Community Survey, 2019, Chapter 4 revisits Asian income advantages in STEM and finance occupations. In STEM occupations that are dominated by men but accessible to Asians, Asians are the racial group with the highest income, net of sociodemographic and work characteristics. But incomes for Asian women have only matched those of white men. In finance occupations that are highly segregated by race and gender, Asians lacked access to occupations with the highest status and incomes such as investment banking and private equity managing director positions. Although all women were excluded from high paying finance occupations, Asian women in back-office finance jobs were less penalized than white women and non-white, non-Asian women of color. Despite some limitations, this dissertation research provides significant implications for race and organizational scholarship. It documents a continuing significance of race at work that fundamentally influences labor the market standing of Asians.