Ravi Jain | Lowered ceiling in the Valley

Tall, Skinny, Mocha | Did Ellen Pao’s race matter?

By Ravi Jain 04/07/15 10:04pm

Most of the articles I read about Ellen Pao’s case — both leading up to the trial and after it — did not have any mention of her racial identity, and the rest tiptoed around the subject. I think the fact that she is Asian-American is inseparable from her gender when considering the discrimination she alleged to have faced at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

Galinsky, Hall and Cuddy of Columbia Business School found in 2013 that “there is an important overlap between racial and gender stereotypes.” Existing research had concluded that there is a high degree of overlap between the stereotypes attributed to blacks and males, as well as those attributed to Asians and females.

More relevant to Pao’s lawsuit was that in a study regarding leadership selection, Asian females — of the identity groups delineated — were least likely to be nominated for a “masculine” position. As Silicon Valley has consistently been considered a hub for “bro culture,” in spite of its self-proclaimed pure meritocracy, it is unsurprising that Pao found herself in the position she described.

In the context of psychological research on identity development, the concept of gendered race is relatively new. Gender and race are also not the only aspects of identity that overlap. Issues of ethnicity, class and sexuality among others all significantly affect the way one acts and is perceived.

But with these findings in mind, Pao’s race should have served as an important detail throughout the trial. If we analyze the alleged discrimination by combining gender and race as layers of her identity, we might come to a different consensus as to whether KPCB was in the wrong.

While the jury disagreed, these recent events as well as the continued research on the intersection of identities, have huge implications for Asian women in professional positions in industries composed of mostly men. In a 2003 study conducted by Reeves and Bennett, 37 percent of Asian-American women were found to have professional occupations in medicine, law and business. However, the two identities of gender and race confound their ascent to leadership roles.

Asian-American women thus feel the additive effects of a “bamboo ceiling” and a “glass ceiling,” and Wharton freshman Yen-Yen Gao agrees. “Asian-Americans are already thought of as lacking in leadership, which is similar to the stereotypes of women. Being an Asian-American female could magnify the effects.”

Returning to the trial, the main concern I have with the way Ellen Pao was discussed was the compartmentalization of her many identities, the result being a narrow focus on her gender. It is unclear why Pao chose gender as a route to file a lawsuit rather than race, or both. Though her race never once came up in the courtroom, the way she was described by her former colleagues on the stand and in performance reviews presented in evidence seemed to me to indicate she clearly bore the brunt of both ends. Most of the witness testimony appeared to only amplify the he-said-she-said nature of the case, but it hinted at underlying stereotypes related to both her gender and race.

Gender and race should not be separated in the context of discrimination cases because identity and stereotypes are not always present on those clear lines. However, anti-discrimination legislation might not be developed enough to consider multiple identities at once. Attorney Virginia Wei wrote in the Boston College Law Review in 1996 that in multiple identity employment discrimination cases, Asian women in particular experience difficulty in discerning how the components of their identity had been attacked.

The verdict delivered on March 27 could be seen as a setback for Asian-American women’s rights. However, Chia Hong, a former Facebook employee, filed a similar suit on March 19 with race as a significant inclusion in the basis for the “discrimination, harassment and retaliation” she allegedly experienced.

While it remains to be seen whether Hong’s case will go to trial, she will certainly benefit both from the intense media scrutiny recently placed on Pao, and from the worldwide influence of Facebook. The technology sector has proven itself to be just as susceptible to discrimination in the workplace, but Pao represents progress in terms of bringing awareness to these issues.

RAVI JAIN is a College sophomore from Syosset, N.Y., studying economics. His email address is jainravi@sas.upenn.edu. “Tall, Skinny, Mocha” appears every other Wednesday.

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