Great book, shows a plethora of tips and tricks for getting ahead in life, would highly recommend, Can't wait for more books from this author.

As the title goes, Margaret M. Chin's book Stuck: Why Asian Americans Don't Reach the Top of the Corporate Ladder is an analysis on why Asian Americans, despite their academic achievements and success in work, struggle to reach the top of the corporate ladder. It is a struggle that I have heard from fellow Asian friends who have worked hard at their jobs and were still passed by in job promotions in favor of white co-workers with equal and frequently less experience.

I have mixed feelings about this book, because I thought this book would address more of the racism that Asian Americans experience at work that isn't often addressed in discussions on racism. While this book mentions racism throughout, I don't feel like it validated the plights of Asian Americans. Instead, the focus was spent discussing how Asian Americans are seen as hardworking and exhibited technical skills but often don't have the soft skills to become a leader. Examples of success were Asian Americans who were able to successfully adapt and acquire the soft skills required to gain the trust of their white co-workers. Although I don't see anything wrong in pointing this out, because I do feel that this is sometimes the case, I do this seems to imply and reinforce the idea that if Asians work harder at different skills, they will succeed, the narrative that Chin brings up over and over again in a so called 'playbook' that Asian parents use to teach their children on the ways of success.

While I do see her point, I think this negates a lot of the discussion on how to address the systematic racism that Asians face at work, and how to work at changing the system. I do have to note that she explains how Affirmative Action has helped Asians in previous decades by providing mentorship and resources for people of color in their work places, which has helped them adapt to the white work environment. Many friends I know who are second generation Asians already exhibit the soft skills required to be good leaders, yet are still passed up for leadership positions at work that I can only attribute to a deeply ingrained belief that Asians are not leaders. So while I feel like this book provides good advice for Asians in developing the right skills for leadership roles, it doesn't do enough to address the systemic racism that Asians face at work. A white person reading this might feel validated thinking that they made the right choice not to hire an Asian leader because they don't yet have the soft skills for it.

I'd recommend this for any Asian who is interested in seeing what they can do better to increase their job prospects. As a Asian American, I personally found this book helpful for skills I could work on to improve myself. I would not recommend this to a white person who is hoping to learn more about systemic racism towards Asians at work.

Margaret did an in-depth research on why some Asian Americans cannot reach the top of the corporate ladder as their peers even they all studied in the top tier schools. It is a worthy investigating subject and it is good information for the Asian students and youngsters so they can learn the ropes early on. Glass ceiling does still exist regardless the corporations have included inclusion and diversity in the workplace. This is a good book not only for Asian Americans but also for all Asians live and work in the Western world.