Tagged: racial sensitivity training

“So what does this mean for black workers in professional environments? First, it’s indicative of the degree to which race shapes occupational outcomes…[F]or blacks in professional positions, issues of poverty are not the problem. Poverty does not explain biases in hiring, the need for particular types of emotional management, and the careful self-presentation that minority professionals engage in at work. Second, all of this ought to encourage a rethinking of some of the existing efforts to create more diverse work environments. Do diversity and inclusion initiatives take into consideration how minorities placed in those environments feel? How can policies create not just more equitable hiring processes, but address the emotional toll of being a racial minority in a professional work setting? In the current political climate, there is generally support for solving race-related employment challenges by focusing on job training and education—in other words, increasing human capital to improve access. Given the research, it’s also important to consider how to create better workplaces for the minority professionals who are already in these jobs.”

Source: Adia Harvey Wingfield. “Being Black — But Not Too Black — In The Workplace.” The Atlantic. October 14, 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/being-black-work/409990/.

“To be a black professional is often to be alone. Most black doctors, lawyers, journalists, and so on — those in white-collar positions that require specialized training and credentialing — work in environments where they are in the racial minority. This comes with challenges. Beyond outright discrimination, which many still face, there are psychological costs to being one of just a few black faces in a predominantly white environment. In a study of black professional workers in a number of different occupations, I found that these employees worked to carefully manage their emotions in ways that reflected the racial landscapes they inhabited. In particular, black professionals had to be very careful to show feelings of conviviality and pleasantness, even — especially — in response to racial issues. They felt that emotions of anger, frustration, and annoyance were discouraged, even when they worked in settings where these emotions were generally welcomed in certain contexts—think litigators interacting with opposing counsel, or financial analysts responding to a stressful day on Wall Street. Interestingly, this often played out at trainings meant to encourage racial sensitivity. Many of the black professionals I interviewed found that diversity trainings — intended to improve the work environment for minorities — actually became a source of emotional stress, as they perceived that their white colleagues could use these trainings to express negative emotions about people of color, but that they were expected not to disclose their own honest emotional reactions to such statements.”

Source: Adia Harvey Wingfield. “Being Black — But Not Too Black — In The Workplace.” The Atlantic. October 14, 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/being-black-work/409990/.