When Cultural Values Clash with Leadership Stereotypes: Asian Immigrant Psychologists’ Leadership Development

Asian immigrant psychologists may encounter unique challenges with leadership development and opportunities due to racial stereotypes, acculturation processes, and culturally bound implicit leadership prototypes, resulting in disproportionate underrepresentation in leadership roles in the United States. The present study explored the success and challenge stories of Asian immigrant psychologists in pursuit of their leadership development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 self-identified Asian immigrant leaders in the field of psychology. Reflexive thematic analysis yielded five main themes including intercultural and intersectional experiences; cultural dissonance with dominant systems; leadership visibility, viability, and sustainability; transformation through radical healing; and culturally-authentic social justice-oriented leadership. Results demonstrated the process of taking the responsibility to become a change agent and developing value-driven leadership that embraces their heritage cultures. Implications for research, practice, training, and advocacy were discussed.