DISCLAIMER: This post is intended only as general information about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). It is not legal advice, and reading it does not make us your attorneys. If you need specific legal advice, please contact an employment attorney in each of the jurisdictions where you have workers who could be deemed your employees.
In a recent meeting, a colleague shared with me that Black women are losing their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) jobs to white women. As I absorbed the allegations, I searched for the perfect words floating among feelings of fear and guilt. The moment was uncomfortable, but DEI work is rarely comfortable. When it is, we’ve probably overlooked something. This is not because we never make progress. We do, but we also attract new challenges that sometimes result in errors. Wash and repeat.
Let’s start by collecting the evidence.
DEI Statistics
According to McKinsey’s 2023 Women in the Workplace report, there are more businesses with women in executive positions than there has ever been. However, progress is lagging for Black and other women of color. An estimated 72% of Black women report that they must code-switch in the office if they want to get ahead, and more than half of them feel they have the burden of teaching their co-workers about DEI. Yet Black people only constitute 4% of supervisory positions in DEI.
The data does not explicitly state that Black women in DEI are being replaced by white women, but it does highlight the underrepresentation and slower progress for Black women in DEI roles. Despite all the DEI campaigns in 2020 and an increased awareness of the need for DEI in workplaces, Black women remain underrepresented in the roles where they can:
- Influence policy
- Increase diversity
- Identify inequities
- Balance those inequities
- Ensure everyone in workplaces has a voice
What Employers Can Do
Employers are still expecting white people to make the changes necessary for Black people to feel included and succeed in their jobs. Although everyone has a role in these efforts, executives need to make sure they are getting feedback from the employees who are having the experiences. No matter how hard white people try, they will never fully understand a Black person’s experience (and vice versa).
To achieve equitable representation in all levels of leadership and employment:
- Survey Black female employees about their experiences working for you.
- Listen to their concerns and resolve the issues you can.
- Broaden your job searches to include communities where Black women network.
- Ensure employees have the tools and training to fulfill their job responsibilities.
- Stay on PARR: planning, acting, revising, and repeating until you get the desired results.
What Employees Can Do
If you are employed by an organization that lacks Black women in leadership roles, you can:
- Point this out to your Human Resources representative, office manager, or the business owner.
- Connect your employer to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), certified minority and women business enterprises (MWBEs), Black sororities, affinity groups for women of color, and other places they might not be recruiting.
- Share about real and perceived inequities and how they can be balanced.
Need to brainstorm ways to include more Black women?
Investing In Your Workforce: There’s Always a Budget for DEI