A&D ANNUAL 2022

Charmaine Kwok

In Australian workplaces, Chinese Australians face the ‘bamboo ceiling’ which manifests as a barrier to opportunities to rise to leadership positions. This research project addresses the ‘bamboo ceiling’ through the design of a digital toolkit for career mentoring, developed with the principles of generative design activism in response to a co-design workshop with five Chinese-Australians in their final year of university. The digital toolkit provides guidance and mentoring for graduates before they enter the workplace. The toolkit is organised according to three factors outlined by Jane Hyun: cultural, individual, and organisational. It guides conversation with activities that explore cultural upbringing, leadership goals and racial discrimination in the workplace. The final website can be viewed on breakthebamboo.webflow.io