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African American Women Get No Respect at Work
Recently, an article published in the University ofPennsylvania's Wharton School of Business newsletter began withthe following statement:
"By choosing self-employment over working for a TV station ornetwork - she [Oprah Winfrey] began her career as a newssexyOprah anchor in Nashville - Winfrey may have avoided a pitfallfor many black women in the workplace, namely, being stuck intheir jobs."
Research shows that black women are less likely to be promotedthen males and white women. Economists, human resourcespecialists and scholars have gathered conclusive evidence thatblack women are least likely to be promoted and white males aremost likely to be promoted.
The evidence is proof of bias in the workplace. No reasonableexplanation for the disparity could be given despite corporatepolicies meant to promote and encourage diversity.
In fact, a large, multiple firms study lead by Nancy DiTomaso, aRutgers University professor, demonstrated that black womenactually suffered doubly from the disparity. She showed that notonly are black women last to be promoted, they also sufferfinancially because white men earned more on average.
On average, white males in the study earned $68,000. Minoritymen earned $64,000 and minority women earned $54,300.
Despite the great chasm dividing white men and black women, thestudy's authors couldn't find any intent or awareness on thepart of companies studied. There were no policies favoring whitemen.
What they did find was the men had more control over their workwhich, possibly led to greater job satisfaction resulting inbetter then average performance ratings from other white men ANDfrom minority women.
Only black women were disadvantaged in this setting while allothers were neither advantaged nor disadvantaged.
Knowing all this, the authors conclude that in the abscence ofintent to discriminate against or in favor of one group overanother, that "there is no remedy for those who either lackfavor or suffer disfavor."
I'd like to suggest a remedy. White men are often more confidentand competent because they have more experience. They have moreexperience because they take on tougher job assignments. Theyget more opportunities to do tough job assignments because biasin the workplace says they can handle the tough jobs and otherscan not handle them as well.
My solution? Take on tougher and tougher assignments andresponsibilities at work, be mobile and willing to
relocate towhere the opportunities are, take line jobs - jobs with profitand loss responsibilities - and ask - even fight - for thosejobs.
At the same time, find good mentors, network often, keep yourresume up to date and your career skills on the cutting edgebecause taking tough assignments means taking risks which canoccassionally end up in failure. However, not taking risks isthe same as failure for black women as recent research has shown.
In the book, Cracking the Corporate, 32 African Americanexecutives dispense advice, share their collective wisdom andexperience into how to successfully manuever through thecorporate maze. Get the book now, sister. Its an indispensableguide and you may need it more then anyone.
Most Black folks in business now are in jobs that represent costcenters - not profit centers - to a company. The work is good,honest work but it often is the work that gets cut, downsized,riffed and reengineered before any other jobs. That is onereason why blacks are often the "last hired, first fired." Jobssuch as human resources, information technology, diversity, etc.don't make money for a business (and I know some will argueagainst that statement). Jobs like sales, finance and operationsexecute company strategy, interface with a company's customersand ink deals.
They are the last jobs to go and when they do, a company isusually in real trouble at that point. Seek the line jobs. Neversay "I can't sell" or "that's too much pressure" or "I don'tlike speaking in front of groups." Seek these high paying, highvisibility, high pressure, revenue-generating jobs at yourcompany. That is where job security is found. That is where theskills necessary to advance in an organization are tested andrefined. And as long you invest in being as good and proficientas you can be in those jobs, you will find a higher level ofcareer security and confidence.
If you stay on the cost side, you can be the best at it - thebest in IT, the best in HR, the best in training - and stilllose your job if the company finds it needs to make cuts. Thatis high risk and high pressure if you ask me.
Good luck, whatever you decide. You have a good example in OprahWinfrey, among many others, to inspire you.
About the author:
Bret Searles is a freelance writer on Black personal finance andbusiness issues, author of ebook "The 7 Simple Secrets toBuilding Wealth: An African American Guide" and publisher of theezine Black Wealth Now.
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