The Bamboo Ceiling: A Study of Barriers to Asian American Advancement

The idea of cultural diversity in the workplace is a popular one, generating much discussion about the inclusion of and affirmative action toward minorities. However, these conversations rarely involve Asian Americans, who despite above-average levels of educational achievement, household income, and employment, find themselves underrepresented in and shut-out of upper-level management positions. In this project, I investigated the stereotype of East-Asian Americans as a model minority (created by non-Asians) to find out why East-Asian Americans are underrepresented in upper-level management in corporate workplaces, a phenomenon known as the “bamboo ceiling.” I explored a variety of scholarly sources that analyzed the historical implications of the “model minority” stereotype as well as factors believed to contribute to the aggregation of Asian Americans in technical rather than managerial roles in the workplace. I determined that the Asian American experience and ensuing model minority myth is strongly tied to America’s poor history with prejudice and discrimination against racial minorities. Asian Americans are consistently stereotyped as perpetual foreigners with poor language and communications skills, and they are excluded from networking, mentoring, and training pipelines to promotions to management. These barriers result in a “bamboo ceiling,” preventing East-Asian Americans from proportionally rising to management or major decision-making roles within an organization. The aim of this project is to bring attention to the role of implicit and institutional discrimination in hiring and promotional practices within American corporations as they concern Asian Americans, who are not traditionally considered victims of racial and ethnic discrimination. My research has also shown that the “model minority” stereotype is a harmful myth that masks deep-seated social and racial issues that continue to plague our nation today. I hope that continued dialogue concerning stereotyping and discrimination will bring more awareness to the issue and contribute toward the attainment equality for all.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/uresposters/1255/thumbnail.jp

Orientation-dependent pseudomorphic growth of InAs for use in lattice-mismatched mid-infrared photonic structures

In this study, InAs was deposited on GaAs (100) and GaAs (111)B 2 degrees towardssubstrates for the purpose of differentiating the InAs growth mode stemming from strain and then analyzed using in-situ reflection high energy electron diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, reflectance spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The procession of InAs deposition throughout a range of deposition conditions results in assorted forms of strain relief revealing that, despite lattice mismatch for InAs on GaAs (approximately 7%), InAs does not necessarily result in typical quantum dot/wire formation on (111) surfaces, but instead proceeds two-dimensionally due primarily to the surface orientation

Spectroscopy studies of straincompensated mid-infrared QCL active regions on misoriented substrates

In this work, we perform spectroscopic studies of AlGaAs/InGaAs quantum cascade laser structures that demonstrate frequency mixing using strain-compensated active regions. Using a three-quantum well design based on diagonal transitions, we incorporate strain in the active region using single and double well configurations on various surface planes (100) and (111). We observe the influence of piezoelectric properties in molecular beam epitaxy grown structures, where the addition of indium in the GaAs matrix increases the band bending in between injector regions and demonstrates a strong dependence on process conditions that include sample preparation, deposition rates, mole fraction, and enhanced surface diffusion lengths. We produced mid-infrared structures under identical deposition conditions that differentiate the role of indium(strain) in intracavity frequency mixing and show evidence that this design can potentially be implemented using other material systems

Prototype laser-diode-pumped solid state laser transmitters

Monolithic, diode-pumped Nd:YAG ring lasers can provide diffraction-limited, single-frequency, narrow-linewidth, tunable output which is adequate for use as a local oscillator in a coherent communication system. A laser was built which had a linewidth of about 2 kHz, a power of 5 milliwatts, and which was tunable over a range of 30 MHz in a few microseconds. This laser was phase-locked to a second, similar laser. This demonstrates that the powerful technique of heterodyne detection is possible with a diode-pumped laser used as the local oscillator. Laser diode pumping of monolithic Nd:YAG rings can lead to output powers of hundreds of milliwatts from a single laser. A laser was built with a single-mode output of 310 mW. Several lasers can be chained together to sum their power, while maintaining diffraction-limited, single frequency operation. This technique was demonstrated with two lasers, with a total output of 340 mW, and is expected to be practical for up to about ten lasers. Thus with lasers of 310 mW, output of up to 3 W is possible. The chaining technique, if properly engineered, results in redundancy. The technique of resonant external modulation and doubling is designed to efficiently convert the continuous wave, infrared output of our lasers into low duty-cycle pulsed green output. This technique was verified through both computer modeling and experimentation. Further work would be necessary to develop a deliverable system using this technique

Pseudomorphic growth of InAs on misoriented GaAs for extending quantum cascade laser wavelength

The authors have studied the impact of epilayer strain on the deposition of InAs/GaAs on (100) and (111)B with 2 degrees offset toward 2-1-1 surfaces. Consequences of a 7% lattice mismatch between these orientations in the form of three-dimensional growth are less apparent for (111)B with 2 degrees offset toward 2-1-1 surfaces compared to (100). By exploring a range of molecular beam epitaxy process parameters for InAs/GaAs growth and utilizing scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy to evaluate the quality of these strained layers, the authors develop empirical models that describe the influence of the process conditions in regards to surface roughness with \u3e92% accuracy. The smoothest InAs/GaAs samples demonstrated average surface roughness of 0.08 nm for 10 um-squre areas, albeit at very low deposition rates. The authors have found the most important process conditions to be substrate temperature and deposition rate, leading us to believe that controlling diffusion length may be the key to reducing defects in severely strained structures. InGaAs/AlGaAs quantum cascade laser structures were also produced on (111)B with 2 degrees offset toward 2-1-1 to take advantage of the piezoelectric effect, and the modified laser transitions due to these effects were observed

Beyond the design of automated writing evaluation: Pedagogical practices and perceived learning effectiveness in EFL writing classes

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) software is designed to provide instant computer-generated scores for a submitted essay along with diagnostic feedback. Most studies on AWE have been conducted on psychometric evaluations of its validity; however, studies on how effectively AWE is used in writing classes as a pedagogical tool are limited. This study employs a naturalistic classroom-based approach to explore the interaction between how an AWE program, MY Access!, was implemented in three different ways in three EFL college writing classes in Taiwanand how students perceived its effectiveness in improving writing. The findings show that, although the implementation of AWE was not in general perceived very positively by the three classes, it was perceived comparatively more favorably when the program was used to facilitate students’ early drafting and revising process, followed by human feedback from both the teacher and peers during the later process. This study also reveals that the autonomous use of AWE as a surrogate writing coach with minimal human facilitation caused frustration to students and limited their learning of writing. In addition, teachers’ attitudes toward AWE use and their technology-use skills, as well as students’ learner characteristics and goals for learning to write, may also play vital roles in determining the effectiveness of AWE. With limitations inherent in the design of AWE technology, language teachers need to be more critically aware that the implementation of AWE requires well thought-out pedagogical designs and thorough considerations for its relevance to the objectives of the learning of writing