Workplace Racism is Rampant. Here's How We Can Step Up.

Women from marginalized racial and ethnic groups face constant racism at work, despite recent pledges by organizations to change. While leaders are not the only ones to blame, they bear a great deal of responsibility. Specifically, when they fail to step up and speak out frequently and visibly, leaders create a climate of silence that permits racism against women in the workplace to continue.?

Leaders can and should attack the problem head-on. They have the power to stop bias, unfair treatment, and discrimination.

Those are the conclusions of important new Catalyst research. We surveyed 2,734 women from marginalized ethnic and racial groups in different levels of their organizations in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We asked how widespread their experience of racism in the workplace is and the role of leaders in permitting or hindering it.

Widespread Prevalence of Racism in the Workplace

Half (51%) of all the women we surveyed say they experience discrimination and bias at work. The numbers are even worse for women with darker skin tones, queer women, and transgender women, who are even more likely to experience racism than women with lighter skin or cisgender heterosexual women.

I was appalled by their stories. “A coworker never spoke to me because I am a lesbian and Black,” said one cisgender woman in the US. “I have had racial slurs used against me and or been belittled for being from a ‘savage’ culture,” said a Maori, queer, and cisgender woman in Australia.

Other research by Catalyst has shown that the majority of employees from marginalized racial and ethnic groups feel on guard to bias at work—what we call an “emotional tax.”

This racism isn’t just coming from peers. Nearly a quarter (25%) of respondents believe that senior leaders in their organization would discriminate against an employee based on ethnicity, race, or culture.

Leadership Silence

A major culprit, we found, is the culture that leaders create. Through their frequent failure to call out racist and sexist behavior publicly and forcefully, they build and reinforce an environment allowing these actions to continue unfettered. In this climate of silence, employees take their cues from leaders and feel restrained from speaking up about inappropriate sexist, and racist behaviors. Often, they have good reason to stay quiet. Speaking up means risking a lot: being excluded, punished with a mountain of extra work, or even passed over for promotions, according to the report’s authors.

Previous Catalyst research uncovered similar findings—that, while an overwhelming majority of men (86%) say they are personally committed to interrupting sexist behaviors when they see them in the workplace, only 31% feel confident in their ability to do so. And, as organizational silence increases, men are 50% less likely to be committed to speaking up.

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Allyship and Curiosity

Leaders have the power to turn this around. But they must battle systemic, ingrained racism that extends well beyond their organization. For that reason, repairing a climate of silence requires real commitment—and an embrace of two critical strategies:

First is allyship, which means supporting women from marginalized ethnic and racial groups. ?Leaders must draw on their institutional, social, and/or cultural privilege or power to create change—calling out barriers and biases that can inhibit progress, as well as acting as role models for others in the organization.

The other strategy is curiosity, which involves being open to new perspectives, seeking out different points of view, and channeling those ideas into action.

What do allyship and curiosity look like in the workplace? When someone interrupts a Black woman in a meeting, callout the behavior, either during the interaction or in private. Reward managers for encouraging and developing women from marginalized racial and ethnic communities. Praise employees who speak up.

I’m not trying to be a Pollyanna. We have a long way to go. But it’s in our power to act—and to start now. Breaking down climates of silence can help accelerate equity. And that begins with each of us. How are you stepping up?

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