All In Session: How To Implement Action 5 – Asian Talent

Following last week’s event on Action 4 (Gender), today we held our All In How-To Session on Action 5: to improve the experience & representation of Asian talent.

Action 5 is to use the guide developed by the All In Asian Working Group and is the result of 9 months of debate. It was  created as a response to the data from the All In Census, which showed the need to improve the experience of Asian people within the industry.

Here are some of the main take aways from the session

1. 48% of Asian people working in the industry are aged between 25-34.
2. 33% of Asian respondents believe that race hinders career progression.
3. 37% of Asian respondents feel undervalued compared to colleagues of equal competence.
4. Only 26% of Asians see people like themselves in senior position (as compared to 67% of whites).
5. 27% of Asian respondents said they are likely to leave the industry due to a lack of inclusion and discrimination. The figure is even greater amongst Asian women.

Our incredible speakers (Naren Patel, Founder, Media For All, Chair of the Asian Talent All In Working Group; Sufia Hussain Parkar, Inclusion Equity & Diversity Director EMEA, Wunderman Thompson; Supriya Dev-Purkaystha, Founder, Connect Growth; Konrad Shek, Director of Policy Research, Advertising Association) shared their own lived experiences and the challenges they have encountered throughout their careers. Topics included the struggle to align with one’s identity, challenging assumptions around Asian people and the issue of intersectionality.

This session clearly highlights the need for our industry to implement small but meaningful changes that will allow for further inclusion and talent retention.  “If we can retain our talent, they will be the leaders of tomorrow and the representation will start” said Supriya Dev-Purkaystha.

Sufia Hussain Parkar added: “We really want to move from intent to action and we cannot do this without some courageous conversations”.

“Let’s try and understand it, let’s give them space. It is about engaging and finding what’s important to the people who work for us” said Naren Patel when talking about the diversity of experiences within the Asian group and how we can tackle the commonalities.

A big thank you  to all the speakers and attendees, you can watch all of our “How To” sessions on demand here or head to our All In Hub for more information.