2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

While engineering is often perceived as a highly technical field, “non-technical” professional skills, such as leadership, have become central to preparing undergraduate engineering students for careers in industry (Park et al, 2022). As more engineers enter careers in management and leadership, developing teamwork and leadership skills are crucial for success post-graduation. However, most of these leadership opportunities do not occur in regular curricular activities, but in co-curricular or extra-curricular activities. Researchers have found a lack of formal leadership development within undergraduate engineering curriculum, indicating that leadership development often occurs outside the context of academics (Knight & Novoselich, 2017). Despite the potential and growth of engineering as a leadership field, engineering students do not see engineering as a leadership profession (Kendall & Rottmann, 2022).  

Engineering education aims to foster leadership skills in students, but one demographic often overlooked as 'leadership material' is Asian Americans (Xie, 2022). In discussions about race and leadership development, Asian Americans are frequently excluded due to stereotypes that portray them as quiet, docile, socially awkward, and 'model minorities' (Akutagawa, 2013). However, the history of Asian Americans is rich with examples of leadership, often overlooked in mainstream narratives and US history. These histories document how Asian American college student activists in the 1960s fought for ethnic studies and migrant farmer rights (Kodama & Dugan, 2020).  

The lack of Asian American leaders is attributed to what scholars in Asian American Studies refer to as the “bamboo ceiling,” a concept that brings attention to cultural and organizational factors that act as barriers to upward mobility in leadership positions (Hyun, 2005; Yu, 2020). We suspect that the “bamboo ceiling” effect continues to occur within engineering. While we are interested in exploring the mechanisms through which cultures and practices in engineering education undermine Asian students’ opportunities to develop leadership and become leaders, we want to explore student experiences outside of engineering that may help develop leadership skills.  

This WIP poster aims to explore how Asian American students perceive leadership development and leadership skills in the context of their engineering education. From this pilot study, we look at how Asian American students navigate engineering leadership. Through two in-depth interviews with student leaders, we examine the ways in which extra-curricular organizations play a role in leadership development. We aim to look at how these students form their views on aspects of engineering culture and how they navigate both their engineering and leadership experiences.

References
Akutagawa, L. (2013). Breaking stereotypes: An Asian American’s view of leadership development. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 4(4), 277–284. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035390

Hyun, J. (2005). Breaking the bamboo ceiling: Career strategies for Asians: the essential guide to getting in, moving up, and reaching the top (1st ed). HarperBusiness.

Kendall, M. R., & Rottmann, C. (2022). Student leadership development in engineering. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2022(173), 7–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.20474

Knight, D. B., & Novoselich, B. J. (2017). Curricular and Co-curricular Influences on Undergraduate Engineering Student Leadership. Journal of Engineering Education, 106(1), 44–70. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20153

Kodama, C. M., & Dugan, J. P. (2020). Understanding the role of collective racial esteem and resilience in the development of Asian American leadership self-efficacy. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 13(4), 355–367. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000137

Park, J. J., Handley, M., Lang, D., & Erdman, M. A. (2022). Engineering Leadership Development: Contribution of Professional Skills to Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Leadership Self-efficacy. International Journal of Educational Methodology, 8(1), 69–80. https://doi.org/10.12973/ijem.8.1.69

Xie, Y. (2022). A bamboo ceiling in the classroom? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 119(22), e2203850119. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2203850119

Yu, H. H. (2020). Revisiting the bamboo ceiling: Perceptions from Asian Americans on experiencing workplace discrimination. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 11(3), 158–167. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000193