Barriers to Entry for African American Professionals

These days more companies than ever are investing in diversity efforts, though to varying degrees of success. While there is an increase in focus on DE&I efforts, research shows the harsh reality:

“… according to both quantitative and qualitative data, working African Americans — from those laboring in factories and on shop floors to those setting C-suite strategy — still face obstacles to advancement that other minorities and white women don’t. They are less likely than their white peers to be hired, developed, and promoted. And their lived experience at work is demonstrably worse even than that of other people of color.” (Laura Morgan Roberts)

As evidenced by research, despite the willingness of businesses to reduce barriers to entry for Black employees to executive level positions, progress remains slow or nonexistent. The following are some of the known barriers for Black employees seeking executive level positions:

• Black employees continue to face explicit and implicit racism
• Black employees have found difficulty being selected for higher level executive positions across most fields
• Black employees are held to a higher standard than their White peers to secure the same level of promotion
• Black employees are disproportionately handed projects with a higher possibility of failure
• Black employees experience differences in ratings, performance reviews, and hiring practices, correlated with their race
• Black employees must deal with an “mental tax” associated with being Black in a predominately White space.

The burden of removing these barriers is often placed on the Black employees themselves, with the perception that promotion opportunities will come if they just work hard enough. However, research shows that even the most impressive background accolades (e.g., academic or vocational background, connections, prestige) do not shield from these barriers. With this in mind, it is clear that organizational-wide attention and effort is needed to make progress in this area.

If leaders are to be more effective with their DE&I efforts, they need to move beyond performative support to begin spearheading meaningful change. Laura Morgan Roberts and Anthony J. Mayo offer 4 considerations for employees to assist in breaking down the barriers to entry for Black employees.

Pivot from advocating DE&I initiatives as a business issue to advocating for them as a moral issue

It has become widely accepted based on decades of research that diverse teams offer greater business outcomes as compared to more homogenized groups. However, the idea of being “diverse enough” by including some marginalized individuals (e.g., women, LGBTQ, physically challenged, etc.) often still leaves out Black individuals. The sufficient diversity of thought that drives business outcomes may be present in these groups, but the unique voices and perspective of the Black community are not.

Consider instead the concept of the 360 organization by Sarah Kaplan, which urges corporate leaders to consider both the financial and ethical implications of all their decision. It affirms that other stakeholders (outside of the corporate ones) exist to which a business must be held accountable to. For  example, corporations have benefitted for decades from the social, financial, and vocational boundaries placed on African American citizens relegating them to menial, low paying, and low skill positions. One would then argue that equal pay and representation for Black individuals is an ethical responsibility of employers, particularly as they have financially profited from said demographic.

Encourage open conversations about race

Recall that organizations do not exist in a vacuum, but rather they are products of the societies in which they are placed — societies in which racism is still explicitly or implicitly practiced. As a result, race needs to be discussed candidly and openly within the workplace setting. It’s not an easy conversation and, while many are willing to speak in general about diversity and inclusion, they are far less interested in discussing specifics—it may hit too close to home. While, yes, initially these conversations will be difficult and uncomfortable, over time they should become organic and take less effort to engage in.

The conversations around race should not be spearheaded by Black employees: it must start with White leaders within the company. Why? Black employees already pay a mental tax being in predominately White spaces. They are tokened, forced into an ambassador role, experience isolation, and must suppress their emotional response to instances of discrimination faced in the workplace. It is unfair to further task them with carrying the burden of enlightening their White colleagues on conversations around race. Those with a lighter emotional load are better suited to carry the weight of these conversations.

Revamp DE&I Initiatives

Most DE&I programs lack the resources to be sustainable, specific enough, or actionable. And even well-funded programs often lack the support or buy-in necessary to make an impact. Remember, for your advocacy to move past lip service, there needs to be committed action. Refocusing your DE&I programs may be just the thing to move your DE&I initiatives from aspirational to impactful. The following are ways we make meaningful changes:

1. Encourage leadership to support for DE&I programs – and to make this support visible (e.g., public acknowledgement and praise, direct access to leadership etc.).
2. Do not relegate DE&I work to People of Color, but rather encourage White staff members to champion this work.
3. Set specific, actionable goals for DE&I efforts and then track those goals to keep accountable for DE&I efforts.
4. Move DE&I efforts away from preventative measures to more proactive ones. For example, instead of engaging in antibias training for homogenized groups, change hiring practices to bring in more workers from diverse backgrounds.
5. Establish support at every stage of Black employees’ tenure at the company – it’s simply not enough to attract Black employees. Given the mental and emotional toll primarily White spaces can have on Black employees, developing support systems around them will be instrumental to retaining and preparing them for leadership roles. This also includes training managers and leaders how to support and align with DE&I efforts.
6. Avoid tailoring Black employees to meet preconceived (White) standards of presentation and behavior. Companies should highlight and develop the ways in which Black employees differ—the unique background, talents, experiences they bring to the table—rather than groom them to reflect the White standards of professionalism that are often standard today. Embracing and celebrating differences will, in the long run, go a long way to helping your Black employees feel more at home.
7. Create a mentorship program that meets DE&I needs. Mentorship relationships have been shown to be invaluable for employees as senior executives are able to assist in navigating the structures of the company. This is of import when there is a lack of representation of Black talent at the senior level. Given that employers tend to hire those who present like them, and given that White individuals are overwhelmingly represented at the executive level, helping Black employees make formal connections can help companies break out of the trend of passively recruiting talent that mirrors the current White-washing of executive leadership.

Meaningful diversity efforts require time, action, and commitment. Organizations – and particularly their leaders – have to show a willingness to recognize barriers, address them directly, and hold themselves accountable for the outcomes their Black employees experience

References

Barriers for Black Professionals – SHRM, 2021

Breaking down barriers: diversity and inclusion in the C-Suite – Financier Worldwide, 2018

Companies make bold promises about diversity, but there’s a long way to go – CNBC, 2020

Toward a Racially Just Workplace – HBR, 2019