Surviving the US corporate road

Big firms are perhaps savvier in dealing with diversity issues than they used to be, Wan says, focusing more on cultivating diversity presence in the executive level,

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training employees on how to build organic relationships with the right mentors and sponsors at the company.

But some of the problems that she noticed as a young associate starting out in the legal world are still present today.

"What I was noticing then - and not just me - was that there were some patterns as to who was getting plum assignments. Just who were being tapped for certain projects," Wan says. "There were certain members of our entering class who were quickly being protected or taken up by very powerful mentors and sponsors, and others of us who were not."

Wan says she didn't feel like any of this was "systemic or systematic", which is what makes it even more difficult to pinpoint and correct. But The Partner Track was her take on how the other half in corporate America tries to navigate that system.

The book was published in September to positive response and was discussed in small communities across the United States. But through word of mouth and social media, support for the book grew.

Wan was invited to speak about diversity and the workforce, using her book to start dialogue about inclusive environments, which she said she found incredibly flattering.

Eventually, the response grew so large that Wan decided to take a year off from her work at Time Inc and focus on promoting the book and working on a second novel, which does not yet have a release date.

Wan says she has even gotten mail from readers in China who read the book in English and liked it so much that they offered to translate it into Chinese.

"I would be so fascinated to speak with Chinese readers to find out their thoughts about this uniquely Chinese-American experience in the American workforce," Wan says.