Despite an increased focus on diversity, equity and inclusion within companies, the daily experience ... [+]
From Oprah to Rihanna to Rosalind Brewer, we’re seeing Black women build billion-dollar businesses and rise up into top leadership positions. Yet the truth remains that Black women are vastly underrepresented in leadership positions due to the continued barriers they face: Only 4.4% of Black women are in management positions and only 1.4% hold C-suite positions, despite being 7.4% of the U.S. population. The wage gap for Black women means they make less on average than white men and white women in similar positions.
Despite an increased focus on diversity, equity and inclusion within companies, the daily experience of Black women in the workplace hasn’t improved in the last few years. Black women are almost twice as likely as women overall to say that they can’t bring their whole selves to work and more than 1.5 times as likely to say they don’t have strong allies, according to The Women in the Workplace 2021 Report.
“For Black women, there is a felt responsibility to be the voice for everyone, because they are a minority representation, which, when added to the emotions felt from simply being in a majority male and/or white room and holding our own, is a lot to take on,” says Mandy Bynum Mc Laughlin, creator of the Race Equ(al)ity Index. “Meanwhile, the pressure internally and externally to be high performing while navigating microaggressions, the perceptions of Black women’s ability to lead constantly being in question, along with the inability to emote anything—let alone anger or frustration—without being labeled aggressive or threatening, are huge factors in what any Black woman might be facing in a leadership role.”
The same report finds there is a disconnect between what white employees see as important allyship steps and what women of color say makes the biggest difference. “There is a disconnect because white employees are often lifting up allyship steps that do not cost them much materially or that do not diminish their own positioning,” says Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatt Bryant, president & CEO of The Moriah Group. “Being an authentic ally requires that you give something—power, resources, or position—to help bring Black women along and give them real access to leadership.”
I spoke to a number of Black women leaders on what allyship steps Black women really need to get greater equity and representation in leadership positions. These leaders stated they are not speaking for all Black women leaders, but are sharing their own lived experiences, as well as many conversations with other Black women in leadership. Here is their advice.
Help Black women feel seen and safe. “From the position of allyship, this can be achieved by acknowledging what I state and how I state it, while not wanting me to mince my words or use semantics that another person is more comfortable with; by not skipping over me during team meetings or allowing another person to repeat my words and giving them credit as if it's the first time the statements have been said; by allowing my lived experience to be held with the same reverence as textbook research; and by respecting my chronological time and work boundaries,” says Dr. LaNail R. Plummer, founder and CEO of Onyx Therapy Group. “It is through these simple behaviors—ones that do not allow additional research, changes in understanding, or workforce efforts—that I will feel that I am valued in the workplace. In other words, many of the changes that are necessary can be rooted in behavioral and character shifts, not just systemic change and response. Allyship allows me to be me—not a version of me you want me to be or wish I would be.”
Center Black women. “Racism is a system that incentivizes and rewards,” says Bynum Mc Laughlin. “This system is so ingrained into our culture that we don’t even realize how often we are perpetuating the harm that we think we are actively trying to undo. It is unintentional, which is why white people who are working to be allies have to constantly be learning, listening, and decentering their own whiteness. If white people are the ones deciding what the most important allyship steps are instead of listening and acting on the feedback provided by women of color, the system is already set up to fail.”
Be transparent about pay and benefit structures. “There was a social media post recently where a woman in HR flippantly shared that she gave a Black woman candidate the salary requested, despite it being far less than what the company budgeted,” says Dr. Tsoi-A-Fatt Bryant. “Black women have lower salaries than their white counterparts because of issues like this; there aren't allies in place who say, ‘No, that's not right.’ Give that candidate what was budgeted for the role.”
Ask these two questions. “First, I think that every person should ask themselves this question, ‘How would I feel if I were the only one in the room?’” says Melva LaJoy Legrand, founder and Ceo of LaJoy Plans. “The point of this exercise is that colleagues should actively strive not to engage in behavior that tokenizes the Black women or any one else that appears different from the majority, because it minimizes what they can truly bring to the table. Next, it’s important to do a temperature check and ask the question [to Black women], ‘How are things going?’, and prepared to a) hear the answer and b) thoughtfully follow up if there are areas that need to change.”
Offer authentic mentorship. “I think one of the biggest obstacles is finding authentic mentors. Many people say they are willing to mentor, but only share the basics,” says Dr. Tsoi-A-Fatt Bryant. “They won't give a true peek behind the curtain to lay out what is needed to go higher professionally, or what are the potential pitfalls to avoid. I have been in professional relationships as a mentee where I was treated like a charity case—not as a valued staff person with true growth potential.”
Give DEI leaders the support and resources to create real change. “Our history has been a cycle of self-fulfilling prophecies. When slavery was outlawed in the U.S., enslaved people were given zero support to start their lives as free citizens, including even legitimate citizenship,” says Bynum Mc Laughlin. “Despite the deeply ingrained and damaging impacts of the lack of support and infrastructure to support formerly enslaved people, Black people in the U.S. still make up a large percentage of low-income earners. Yet somehow our country prefers the narrative depicting Black people as lazy, and the reason for their own demise, instead of taking responsibility for the marginalizing impacts that resulted from generations of neglect and refusal to recognize African Americans as equal.
Over the last two years, we’ve seen companies making statements, allocating funding, and even hiring heads of diversity, equity, and inclusion, yet providing little to no budget, support, or advocacy. Moreover, the people in these roles are expected to drive change, yet are so limited in what they are able to do. The structures through which they are navigating were built on deeply ingrained, white supremacist values. So deeply ingrained that leadership is often not willing to recognize the perpetuation of racism through their own leadership out of fear of being labeled a racist…When companies only insert systems, structures, and new policies into a workplace without addressing the deeply rooted issues around communication, trust, and information passing, there will be no progress, and the harm will only be further perpetuated.”
Let Black women be themselves. “Don't police her hair, communication style, expression of self, boundaries on self-care or time management, etc.,” says Dr. Plummer. “The latter is important because there are usually other factors at play that proceed a Black woman's daily entrance into the workplace. Aside from family responsibilities or gender roles, she may have to ‘get her mind right’ to deal with the daily microagressions, discrimination, subtle and uncessary corrections, and more. Thus, when she states that she needs time off or work/life balance, it may not be that she needs a break from the workload, but rather all the other factors that are present when leading in the workplace as a Black woman. So her time is more sacred and necessary in order for her to meet her optimal position at work. We must remember that her ancestors may not have the opportunity to take time off or set time-based boundaries, so when she takes the time for herself, it also allows for the healing from generational trauma and constraints.”
Listen to and believe Black women. “When a Black woman is providing you feedback, or sharing their own experience, the response should absolutely not be shock, awe, disbelief, and definitely no tears,” says Bynum Mc Laughlin. “To be an ally means to decenter yourself, your feelings. It is instead about persistently interrogating our own bias, beliefs, and our (un)willingness to speak up in rooms where we are not the minority. By listening, really practicing the intention to understand—not to respond—and showing that feedback was implemented by following through, advocating, and speaking up in places where Black women are not represented or heard, progress is possible.”
Keep doing the work. “I think that for some white women, this may be new, eye-opening and hard for them,” says LaJoy Legrand. “So, we have to expect that there are going to be microaggressions, mishaps and full-on mistakes, because there is some unlearning and relearning that must happen. That means that the next few years are going to be hard, and it breaks my heart that Black women have to grapple with this process because so many of us are tired and just want people to get it.
I do remain hopeful that if allies continue to do the work, coupled with what we know to be right, fair and just in the world, that we will become the society we say we are in our everyday actions. We will no longer have conversations about giving access or breaking barriers at the same frequency, and it will just be our natural way of being. That’s the dream—a dream I realize I probably won’t get to fully see with my peers. However, I do see seeds of that type of equity in our children, and truly believe that this next generation may finally be able to get it right.”
