If there is any profession in which Asian-Americans seem to have made tremendous strides, it is engineering. Asian-Americans abound in such high-technology industries as aerospace, health care and electronics, leading many to label them as part of a "model minority."

But talk to Asian-American engineers like Alice Lei and a story of frustration emerges. Lei, a Chinese-American engineer at McDonnell Douglas in Long Beach, has filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission contending racial discrimination against her involving her rank at the company.

"They have certain stereotypes that (Asian women) are demure, not dynamic," Lei said.

Lei is not alone. A growing number of Asian-Americans like her contend that they are victims of systematic discrimination arising, ironically, from the popular image of Asian-Americans as a model minority. That image of Asians achieving success through quiet achievement--while helping them to get hired at bottom and middle levels--works against them in promotions to senior positions.

White managers "feel Asians just want to do technical work so they leave them there and won't help train them" for management positions, said Stewart Kwoh, executive director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California.

"There's a real big gap between the reality and the myth" of Asian-Americans as successful minorities, said Don T. Nakanishi, a UCLA assistant professor of education who has filed a grievance with the university claiming he was denied tenure there due in part to racial bias.

The evidence indicates that at least some of the complaints may be justified. Asian-Americans make up 8% of all professionals and technicians in the private sector, but only 1.3% of all managers, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights concluded in a recent report that Asian-Americans are under-represented in managerial positions and called for further study of the issue.

As a result, frustrated Asians in such industries as electronics and aerospace are leaving companies in growing numbers, moving to where they can start over again or form their own firms. A growing number of Asians are also filing--and winning--employment discrimination complaints against employers.

The issue of discrimination based on the model minority stereotype is not limited to employment, Asian community leaders contend. Among other examples, they cite: