Photo by RF._.studio
This week we cross the bridge from Black History Month to Women’s History Month. We close out February, a month of tribute to African Americans and a recognition of ongoing adversity resulting from systemic racism in the United States. In March, the focus turns to the achievements of women with a call-to-action to drive greater progress for gender equality across the world.
For Black women, the calendar turn does not come with a flip of the switch, toggling from Black to woman with independent celebration of two aspects of one’s identity. So with this week, we want to focus on the experiences of those with many intersectional dimensions—because although these months occur in cleanly defined ‘vacuums,’ a person’s identity does not.
What is intersectionality?
The term “intersectionality” was coined in 1989 by professor Kimberlé Crenshaw. While the concept has been interpreted and debated over the years, at its core, it refers to how race, class, gender, and other individual characteristics “intersect” with one another and overlap. During our programs, we often talk about that overlap as a compounding effect, one in which each aspect of our identity—and the discrimination that comes with it—adds up, with the sum being greater than the whole of its parts.
Impacts of Intersectional Bias for Women at Work
In a recent report from Catalyst, Exposé of Women’s Workplace Experiences Challenges Antiracist Leaders to Step Up, many of those compounding effects are made clear:
Half (51%) of women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups experience racism at work.
Women with darker skin tones are more likely than women with lighter skin tones to experience racism at work.
Trans women (67%) and queer women (63%) are more likely than cisgender heterosexual women (49%) to experience racism at work.
This insight also builds on the findings of the 2022 Women in the Workplace report from LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company which outline various categories in which women with marginalized identities have a worse experience at work. Managerial support, sponsorship and allyship, microaggressions and psychological safety.
Source: Women in the Workplace 2022
Both of these reports highlight the lack of action when it comes to manager support and senior leaders modeling allyship and curiosity.
Source: Catalyst Antiracism Report
Source: Women in the Workplace 2022
They also both encourage various ways for leaders to improve their practices when it comes to supporting all of their employees and being especially mindful of those with intersectional identities. At Gild, we run these recommendations through our three-step process for allyship—ask, model, advocate.
Ask
In Catalyst’s call-to-action, an emphasis is placed on both allyship and the concept of curiosity: “Curiosity is about proactively seeking out different points of view, listening to others, learning, and reflecting on what you’ve heard. People who are curious are open to new perspectives, welcome respectful exchanges of ideas, and channel their learning into action.” This curiosity does not mean burdening underrepresented individuals, but rather taking the accountability for yourself to see a wide range of perspectives and resources. And when the time comes to engage your colleagues or direct reports on the specific experiences of your workplace, doing so respectfully. While you’re in the mode of asking, Catalyst has great quizzes that can help you to identify your areas for improvement:
Model
When it comes to modeling allyship behaviors, you must start with yourself—taking accountability for your role in both your interpersonal relationships at work and those that are more systemic. Even when you feel like you don’t “touch” the systems, you exist within them and have a responsibility to interrupt bias, racism and sexism. Catalyst recommends speaking up and interrupting others that make racist comments and co-creating a shared vision of what thriving together at work looks like.
Advocate
When it comes to advocacy, this is where using the privilege that comes with your own intersectional identities can support those who have been marginalized. Women in the Workplace focuses on managers taking actions like giving helpful feedback, helping to manage workload, showing interest in career, checking in on well-being, ensuring credit for work and encouraging inclusivity and respect on teams. For senior leaders, Catalyst identifies key points for action:
Lift the Silence: By speaking out against racism as an ally and actively listening with curiosity to others’ perspectives, you can demonstrate your expectations for employee behavior, encouraging others to do the same—lifting the silence that hides and sustains experiences of racism at work.
Value Diversity: Demonstrate a willingness to listen to, and actively consider, the perspectives of employees from historically marginalized groups. Strive to minimize power differentials in decision-making and encourage norms of collaboration among coworkers.
Examine Your Policies for Fairness: Critically evaluate your hiring and promotion practices for bias and implement safeguards to ensure employees are evaluated objectively.
The benefit? Women in the Workplace found that when managers participate in allyship behaviors, experiences improve at work with more opportunity to advance, greater psychological safety, a better work culture. As if that wasn’t enough, they are also happier, less burned out and less likely to leave—which, during “the great breakup” is a noteworthy finding.
Source: Women in the Workplace 2022
We’ve seen this impact in our work with companies that participate in allyship training and managers and leaders that go through our Changing Bias Behaviors program, we’ve seen a 20% increase in key allyship action benchmarks like:
I understand my role as a leader in setting the tone for bias interruption and allyship within the organization.
I have tools to recognize the unique needs of my diverse reports and how to support them.
I see a clear path to forming a culture of allyship within our organization.
We love to hear about the actions you’ve taken, how they’ve worked, and what comes next. Reach out or let us know in the comments.