Asian-Americans in the workplace experienced different barriers to computing than those typically faced by Blacks and Hispanics. Stephen Chen of AT&T Bell Laboratories documented a couple case studies that involved Asian-Americans and the barriers they faced as they sought to further their careers in Computer Science.

Charles Tang

Charles Tang is a first-generation Chinese-American who graduated in the top ten of his senior class and then proceeded to earn BS and MS degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Chicago. After college, Tang accepted a job in industry, working for Dynamo Disk Incorporated as a Design Engineer. Tang performed exceptionally well on the job and worked well with his teammates. Unfortunately, his contributions were generally underestimated due to a perception that his quietness was a sign of a lack of understanding or confidence. And having rarely complained, his supervisor believed that he was satisfied this his job.

After five years at the company, Tang noticed that many of the people he started out with, and even some who started after him, were moving up to managerial positions while he remained unmoved. What Tang did not know was that his coworkers belonged to many of the same churches, social groups, and outside organizations, effectively networking their way to their new positions. Despite an excellent work record, Tang's failure to network as his peers had done created obstacles that prevented him from moving up from his current position.

Jessica Chang

Jessica Chang is a second-generation Chinese-American who graduated a Salutatorian of her senior class and received BS, MS, and Ph.D degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. After college, Chang also accepted an offer to work in industry and experienced circumstances similar to those faced by Tang.

Six years into her working career, she too noticed that people who started working after her had been promoted to the level of managers. Despite an excellent work ethic and tremendous productivity, Chang had been passed up for the promotion many times. After much consideration, she confronted her supervisor about her concerns. Her supervisor excpressed great surprise when confronted by the issue. He said that she always seemed to be cheerful and happy with her current work and did not understand why she would want to be a manager. He then said that she reminded him of the wife of one of his closest friends who was a wonderful cook and mother. Judging her by these stereotypes, the supervisor then said that she wasn't "leader-like" and needed to be more assertive.

In the time following the meeting, Chang learned to be more outspoken, interrupting at meetings and holding the floor when others tried to break in. She honed her presentation skills and developed a thick skin when encountering sexual and racial jokes. Finally two years later, she was offered a promotion.