Bias preventing Black & Latinx girls from becoming leaders

Groundbreaking research from Girls Leadership has revealed that systematic racial bias from an early age at school is still holding Black and Latinx women in the US from reaching their full potential and achieving leadership roles. The educational non-profit’s latest report Ready to Lead explores the internal and external factors that support and inhibit the leadership of girls of colour. 

Although the research demonstrates that Black and Latinx girls are poised to step into leadership positions – at school and beyond – institutional racial and gender bias in educational organisations and the broader society are preventing them from fully reaching their potential, noted the study.

READY TO LEAD 

After surveying more than 2,000 girls and families and over 200 teachers across the US, Girls Leadership found that:

• Black & Latinx girls are ready to lead: Black and Latinx girls have the highest levels of self-reported confidence, identify as leaders, and have leadership aspirations. 
• Racial and gender bias are the key barriers to leadership: Black and Latinx girls identified the external factors of racial and gender bias present in their schools and broader society as significant obstacles to their leadership goals and opportunities. 
• Teacher bias limits leadership opportunities: Students of colour experience bias and unfair treatment in the form of not having the same opportunity to get leadership roles. Teachers have lower expectations for Black and Latinx students compared to White students, and Black and Latinx experience harsher disciplinary actions than White students who exhibit the same behaviours. 
• Teacher support of Black and Latinx girls’ leadership is important: Black and Latinx girls score higher on the leadership scale than girls of other races/ethnicities, even if they are in schools with predominantly White teachers. However, in schools with predominantly teachers of colour, Black and Latinx girls score even higher on the leadership scale. 
• Parents and mentors contribute significantly to positive leadership aspirations: Black and Latinx girls who have parents and mentors who think of and refer to them as leaders positively correlates with higher scores on the leadership scale as well as the earning of higher grades. 

AMBITIOUS FEMALE LEADERS

The educational non-profit believes its latest findings from its Ready to Lead report “will monumentally impact the way that girls, especially Black and Latinx girls, are supported and taught to become skilled and ambitious leaders”. The findings, released in partnership with Morgan Stanley, will help to create a new curriculum and pathways for leadership development for the diverse needs of 25 million girls across the US, initiating necessary changes within educational institutions to address systemic gender and racial injustices, according to the non-profit.

“We understand from the research findings that there is often a dangerous disconnect between the experiences and perspectives of our country’s teaching force – about 80% of whom are White women – and the girls – over 50% of whom are girls of colour,” stated Simone Marean, CEO and Co-founder of Girls Leadership. “This begged us to ask the question: What happens when Black and Latinx students, who know their power and already identify as leaders, speak up in a classroom? These findings forced us to think differently about how to properly support and train teachers to see the value – rather than the threat – of these strong voices. It also taught us that much more research is needed to understand this bias at the beginning, in elementary school.” 

REMOVING BARRIERS

While attempting to better understand how and when girls develop their leadership identity and skills, Girls Leadership realised that existing studies were primarily focused on a very narrow scope of the population – White, middle class and/or affluent girls. These studies did not account for important cultural distinctions for the majority of girls in the US who are girls of colour. 

“Morgan Stanley has a longstanding partnership with Girls Leadership and looks forward to working closely with them on the Ready to Lead campaign, which will provide concrete actions to remove key barriers to leadership for young women of colour,” added Susan Reid, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Morgan Stanley. “Effecting positive and lasting change for marginalised communities is a central goal of our firm’s D&I efforts, and this campaign is a significant step in doing so for Black and Latinx women.” 

Girls Leadership seeks to shed light on these disparities and their unfortunate impact on Black and Latinx girls in order to be a conduit of change for how we design girls’ leadership curriculum and teach them in the US. Through its proprietary Power ColLABorative Training –a professional development for teachers and youth-serving professionals focused on culturally responsive, girl-centred leadership development, Girls Leadership aims to build on its programmes and scale its reach based on these findings. 

EMBRACING LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL

With the support of Morgan Stanley and other sponsors, Girls Leadership said it wants to tell a new story about what happens to the power of the voices and leadership aspirations of girls of colour in adolescence. To support the research study, Girls Leadership is launching a social media campaign that focuses on encouraging Black and Latinx women and girls to share their personal stories about embracing their leadership abilities and finding their voice through the #ReadyToLead movement. The campaign will create a groundswell of community sharing while demanding necessary policy and systemic change to rebuild schools as the foundation of leadership, influence and power for all girls.

Founded in 2009, Girls Leadership committed to teaching girls K-12 to exercise the power of their voice. The educational non-profit is devoted to understanding the personal, cultural and structural factors that impact girls’ leadership identity and skill development at a crucial point in their trajectory. Its goal is to raise the bar on how institutions approach fostering leadership development for girls in a way that truly incorporates and addresses the impact of trauma, important cultural differences and racial bias.

Click here for more information and join the #ReadyToLead conversation.