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“Battling Bias: it’s still about race, but it’s not in your face”

Filed under Diversity and Careers, On the Job, Women and Careers
Posted by Libraries, April 20, 2007
View all posts for April 2007

T. Shawn Taylor, Essence Magazine, April 2007, Vol. 37, Iss. 12, pg. 164-167.

Black women in the professional world are encountering a new type of discrimination. This article offers suggestions on how to handle this “subtle bias” and stand your ground.

According to the article, an extremely bright twenty-eight year old African American woman who double majored in economics and East Asian studies at Harvard University encountered a challenging situation at a consulting firm. One weekend, the Harvard alumna conducted interviews with people on the street for work purposes, and her manager perceived her drive and ambition to be insubordination. Her manager complained to her boss, and this “aggressive” behavior was noted on her performance evaluation.

Frustrated and angry, she discussed this issue with African American mentors, who suggested that she should not waste her time trying to convince people not to be intimidated by her. Her solution of working with a partner in the firm instead of the manager worked well for her.

The article also describes how Black women in the workplace have been asked personal questions relating to their skin tone, hair, and families, and have felt that they have had to work harder than their white co-workers. Stereotypical opinions can cause strong feelings of resentment and can eventually cause people to switch jobs or departments. A new book entitled Tilt: What a Level Playing Field in Business Might Look Like (Jossey-Bass) will be coming out in the future to address discrimination workplace issues.

To learn more about coping mechanisms such as humor, and to learn how to deal directly with biases read the full article:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24357246&site=ehost-live
(NOTE: Log-in is required for access. Click here for info.)
(MBLC: General Reference Center Gold)

—Anne Detwiler