Despite supposed efforts by companies and business leaders to fight racism, research compiled by non-profit Catalyst, found a clear disconnect between promises made by executive-boards, and the measures that have been put into place to prevent discrimination.
According to a survey of more than 2,700 women across the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and South Africa, 51 per cent of the respondents who identify as women, trans and queer from marginalized racial and ethnic groups experience racism in the workplace.
Catalyst, which provides consulting services to organizations with the goal of making workplaces fairer and more inclusive for women, also found that women with darker skin tones were more likely than women with lighter skin tones to be affected and said even when marginalized women do speak up about their experiences, they are often ignored. The study further revealed that women who identify as trans and queer were much more likely than cisgender heterosexual women to experience racism at work.
The researchers who led the survey noted in an accompanying report that it is essential for senior leaders to step up and take responsibility for the marginalisation that certain demographic groups are suffering. Almost half of survey respondents said that senior leaders in their organisations do not engage in ally ship, and some 43 per cent said that leaders do not show curiosity, which is essential for eliminating the kind of “climate of silence” in which racism can thrive.
In addition to encouraging ally ship and curiosity to prevent racism at work, the report also urged business leaders to implement accountability programs and to develop feedback systems to measure and track how and to what extent employees experience racism, and to understand whether there is a gap between what leaders say about wanting to create inclusive workplaces and what women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups actually endure at work. “Racism does not occur just in interpersonal interactions; it also manifests in the various systems of power embedded in the institutions that govern societies,” the report concluded.