Moderator: Junior Associate Research Fellow Chaowen Deng

Time: 14:30-16:00, Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Venue: Guoshun Campus, Starr Building, Room 410

Topic: Understanding the Bamboo Ceiling

Abstract:

Well-educated and economically successful, Asian people are widely regarded as the "model minority" in the United States. This research challenges this optimistic stereotype by identifying and examining the so-called "Bamboo Ceiling" across multiple dimensions, including leadership attainment, salary levels and academic performance. Based on nine research papers adopting mixed methods, this study explores the scope, underlying mechanisms and potential solutions to the Bamboo Ceiling phenomenon.

In terms of research scope, most existing studies and industry practitioners group all Asian populations as a single collective. By contrast, this research draws theoretical distinctions and presents empirical evidence to categorize Asian groups into East Asians, Southeast Asians and South Asians (e.g., Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian communities respectively). The results consistently show that East and Southeast Asian groups are confronted with the Bamboo Ceiling, while this issue does not apply to South Asian groups.

As for mechanisms, this paper systematically analyzes intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup and organizational factors that lead to such disparities. In regard to solutions, it explores effective interventions to break the Bamboo Ceiling. Relevant theoretical implications and practical recommendations are also discussed in this paper.

Speaker: ProfessorJackson G. Lu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Bio:

Jackson G. Lu holds the General Motors Professor title at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He serves as Senior Editor for Organization Science and Associate Editor for Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He earned his PhD from Columbia Business School in 2018 and was awarded early tenure at MIT in 2023.

His research mainly falls into three major areas: the Bamboo Ceiling phenomenon among Asian communities; how multicultural experiences such as overseas work shape leadership, creativity, professional ethics and other organizational outcomes; and the multi-faceted impacts of artificial on individuals and organizations.

Professor Lu's research findings have been published in top-tier general science journals, management journals and psychology journals, including Nature Human Behaviour, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Applied Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,Organization Science, Annual Review of Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychologyand Psychological Bulletin, Psychological Science. His work has been covered by more than 300 mainstream media outlets, such as BBC, The Economist, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, NPR, The Boston Globe and The New York Times, The Washington Post.

He has received numerous prestigious honors and accolades, including being listed among the 40 Best Business School Professors Under 40 and 30 Thinkers to Watch. He has won over 60 research awards presented by the Academy of Management, American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, Behavioral Science & Policy Association, International Association for Conflict Management, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and Society of Experimental Social Psychology. Additionally, he was granted the Best Senior Editor Award by Management and Organization Review for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024.