The Illusion of Asian Success, a new report from the Ascend Foundation, a non-profit Pan-Asian career lifecycle organization, spotlights the evolving challenges for Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, and minority women in climbing the professional ladder to success in San Francisco Bay Area technology companies.

The Illusion of Asian Success: Scant Progress for Minorities in Cracking the Glass Ceiling from 2007-2015 study includes pipeline data aggregated from hundreds of companies, including Apple, Cisco, Facebook, Google, HP, Intel, Twitter, Yelp, and others.

Here are some key findings in The Illusion of Asian Success:

"When we used the Executive Parity Index to compare the numbers of minorities as executives to their numbers in the workforce, it was clear that that efforts to promote more Asians, Blacks and Hispanics have made no meaningful impact to the minority glass ceiling," said Buck Gee, a former vice president and general manager at Cisco Systems who is an Ascend executive advisor and a study co-author. "That said, we saw progress made by white women, so we know tech companies can change. Now it's time to do the same for minority men and women."

Co-author and Ascend executive advisor Denise Peck, a former vice president at Cisco, stated, "Minority women continue to bump against a double-paned glass ceiling. The data show that a general focus on developing women leaders has not addressed the distinct challenges for Asian, Black, or Hispanic women. This has been an unspoken truth in the minority community, and we hope that our report opens a long overdue dialogue. We encourage all companies to take a hard look at their minority pipeline and ask how they can do better."

"In spite of companies investing in their recruiting and hiring of Asians, Blacks and Hispanics, advancement to senior corporate ranks and corporate boards is still highly limited," said Anna Mok, executive vice president and national board member of Ascend. "To make the systemic changes that positively impact and advance results, CEOs, their executive teams, and corporate boards need to actively lead change and drive solutions."

The archive photo was taken at Ascend Midwest Chapter conference on June 9, 2016. The conference theme was “The Power of Diversity”, and kicked off with the insightful session “Unconscious Bias”, presented by University of Wisconsin’s Director of Diversity, Binnu Palta Hill. This was followed by an engaging panel discussion “Lessons from Climbing the Corporate Ladder” with executives from HSBC, Associated Bank, and Bank of America.

Ascend Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to educate, advocate, and enable Pan-Asian business leaders to reach their full potential and provide scholarships to honor students who demonstrate scholastic excellence, leadership, and commendable community service.