Exposé of women’s workplace experiences challenges antiracist leaders to step up

This survey of 2,734 women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States finds that 51% of respondents have experienced racism in their current workplace. For the many leaders around the globe who pledged to fight racism following the 2020 murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery in the United States, this finding points to a large disconnect in what leaders say they want to do and the reality that racism is still pervasive in workplaces internationally. What’s worse, the links between the multiple oppressions that women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups experience at work are often ignored and go unaddressed. Authors Samantha E. Erskine, PhD, Sheila Brassel, PhD, and Kathrina Robotham, PhD, center women’s experiences and highlight that leaders’ actions and inactions can perpetuate intersectional forms of racial harm. The authors show that senior leaders who demonstrate allyship and curiosity can combat racism, in part by decreasing the climate of silence in their organization and increasing its diversity climate.

If you are a senior leader committed to fighting racism at work, you need to absorb these findings and adopt an intersectional approach to antiracist leadership. By taking action to interrupt intersectional forms of racial trauma, you can help advance equity in your workplace.