Asian American Women Have Fewer Church Leadership Opportunities, but Men and Women Disagree on Why

LOS ANGELES - May 7, 2024 - PRLog -- While men in Asian American congregations cite biblical beliefs as the main reason why fewer women are in leadership, women in these congregations say overrepresentation of men is the dominant reason.

These findings come out of the first-of-its kind National Survey of Asian American Congregational Practices conducted by the Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity (ISAAC).

While other nationwide surveys have sampled Asian American congregations and individuals, this survey (including almost 350 congregations) contains the largest sample of Asian American congregations with questions related to church ministry.

Key Research Findings

1. Women clergy in predominantly Asian American congregations are not allowed similar access to leadership responsibilities as their counterparts in non-Asian American congregations. Almost 13% of Asian churches compared to almost 5% of non-Asian churches had no women in leadership.
2. Significant differences exist based on respondents' gender and the racial composition of their churches as to why women are underrepresented in church leadership.
3. Asian churches cited "Biblical and confessional beliefs" (37%) and "work life-balance" (30%) more frequently as reasons for women's underrepresentation, while non-Asian churches cited "lack of critical mass of women in organizations" (35%) nearly twice as frequently as Asian churches.
4. Male leaders in Asian American churches most frequently cited "Biblical and confessional beliefs" (43%) as a reason why women were underrepresented, whereas women in these churches most frequently cited "overrepresentation of men" (42%) and "work-life balance" (35%).
5. Though Asian American congregations tend to be younger than non-Asian American churches by founding date and attendee age distribution, there are fewer young leaders in Asian American churches. About 35% of Asian churches report no leaders under the age of 30 on the ruling church board, compared to only 17% of other churches.
6. Asian American congregations participated less in the Stop AAPI Hate movement during the height of the pandemic (34%) compared to their non-Asian American counterparts (60%). However, a higher percentage of Asian American congregations (29%) continued to participate in the movement after 2022 compared to other congregations (21%).

"Asian American women don't have the full capacity to exercise their gifts in Asian American churches," said ISAAC's Executive Director Young Lee Hertig. "ISAAC exists to interrupt this pattern, fostering tangible and prophetic change in our congregations through mutual learning and empowerment."

This article is available to be republished with attribution to the Innovative Space for Asian American Christianity as the source. The research team is available for media interviews.  Contact press@isaacweb.org.