As women of color, we may face unique challenges at work. This is also the reason why we need support, especially in the workplace. Some of these challenges include not having access to the same opportunities as our peers, being shut out of important decision rooms, and not being afforded the mentorship and sponsorship needed to succeed.
According to this Catalyst study, while women of color are predicted to be the majority of all women in the United States by 2060, they only make up 5% of executive and senior-level positions. Despite a rising college graduation rate, only 3.8% of women of color hold board seats in Fortune 500 companies. Of these, Black women hold only 2.2% of these seats, while Hispanic and Asian women both hold 0.8% of these.
Here are 10 ways we can all, both men and women, support women of color in the workplace:
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Change organizational cultures
This also means that whenever we can, we should strive to keep our organizations, teams and boards of directors diverse. It also means that we must delineate specific goals for inclusion and diversity, to the point of setting milestones by which we can measure the success of our efforts.
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Prepare and train management
One of the biggest challenges that many women of color face may be related to faulty management. Without a diverse management, it can be challenging to address such systemic issues as unconscious bias.
Adequately preparing and training management through diversity and inclusion training goes a long way in helping promote women in general, and women in color in particular. Society may have conditioned us to see women as angry, passive or overly emotional, which is amplified for women in color who deal with biases on multiple cultural and gender levels.
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Mentor a woman of color
Mentoring women of color provides them with the opportunity to thrive and succeed with the proper guidance. This can be done by matching them, especially at the junior level, with competent and willing mentors on the basis of the skills they need. When it comes to mentorship for women of color, the right pairing is crucial as race can and still does constitute a significant obstacle in the workplace. However, the right mentor-mentee connection can help these women flourish better and faster, as a result of feeling more connected and better supported within their company.
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Sponsor a woman of color
Sponsorship is different from mentorship. While a mentor focuses on guiding and inspiring someone’s career, a sponsor will help someone get ahead in your career by actually sticking her/his neck out for you. In this sense, sponsorship is more transactional than mentorship in nature.
Women of color need sponsorship in order to have access to the rooms we’re either under-represented in or not represented at all. For this very reason, sponsoring a woman of color can make the difference between career success or stagnation.
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Provide resources to a woman of color
Providing professional, business and even personal resources to women of color, in and outside of the workplace, can go a long way towards helping them succeed. These can consist of trainings, groups to join, or even a support system that many minorities at work may not have access to.
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Invite a woman of color to the meeting
During the 2017 Lady Project Summit, Her Agenda’s founder and award-winning journalist Rhonesha Byng mentioned something that struck me. In her address to the crowd of women in attendance, she recommended that whenever we notice a lack of diversity and representation in any room, that we consider bringing a woman of color along. Her advice has stayed with me ever since.
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Encourage a woman of color
Women of color are faced with a slew of largely unnoticed micro-aggressions and minor insults on a daily basis, in and outside of the workplace. It’s the same micro-aggressions and insults that may lead these women to lose confidence in themselves, and may affect their career success at many levels.
Encouraging a woman of color doesn’t only mean helping her face these threats, but also strengthen her in her work and life. Being mindful of the hurtful words, phrases and assumptions directed at her may go a long way in fostering more success in her career.
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Create networks
The right networks have the power to create and give professional and business opportunities that are otherwise not available outside of the network. It’s important to help organize these networks that can help women of color be exposed to senior-level management, as well as get access to opportunities and rooms usually closed to them.
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Talk about the challenges faced by women of color
Many shy away from talking about and sharing the reality of what it means to be a woman of color at work. It’s indeed a comfortable and difficult topic to address. Yet, it’s only by sharing it and being willing to tell our stories, that we can shine the light on the existing issues and potential solutions.
It’s also important that management and more senior levels be willing and open to receiving feedback about these issues. The more we can learn about ways to fight this concrete ceiling, the more we can successfully address it. Last but not least, having the courage to report abusive and harmful behavior can help us all move past this hurdle.
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Open high-visibility jobs and careers to women of color
Not all positions are created equal. Neither do all jobs provide the same exposure and visibility needed to propel one’s career forward. Many women in general, and women of color in particular, are still cast in the supporting roles of their careers. These women remain way too long in low-visibility, low-impact, that fail to provide them with the appropriate leadership and growth opportunities. It’s more crucial than ever to empower women to access mission-critical, high-visibility jobs that can propel them to success.
What other ways to support women of color at work would you add to this list?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sister.
