Around two-thirds (66%) of employees from marginalised racial and ethnic groups worldwide have experienced racism at work during their career, according to a new global report.
In fact, half (52%) have experienced racism in their current job, reveals the study carried out by Catalyst, as companies face opposition to their diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) efforts.
The report, How Racism Shows Up at Work – And the Antiracist Actions Your Organization Can Take, which surveyed more than 5,000 women, men, transgender, and non-binary employees across Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, and the US, reveals the pervasive and insidious ways racism exists in the workplace. The most common expressions of racism are workplace harassment (48%) – such as racist jokes, slurs, and other derogatory comments – and employment and professional inequities (32%), where respondents experienced pay gaps, were passed over for promotion or were assigned more or less work than their colleagues based on race.
RACIAL STEREOTYPES
“Our findings show that racism in the workplace is deeply embedded, often flying under the radar in the form of offhand comments or other exclusionary behaviours,” stated Lorraine Hariton, President and CEO of Catalyst. “It’s imperative that leaders at every level of an organisation act to combat racism and build antiracist workplaces, address racist and discriminatory incidents, and create environments of physical and psychological safety that enable employees to report racist experiences.”
Participants also report experiencing racism in the form of racial stereotypes and degrading commentary about their bodies or cultures. Stereotypes include assumptions about a person’s intelligence, cleanliness, or language abilities, as well as blame for Covid-19. Women of colour (51%) and men of colour (50%) experienced racism in the workplace to the same degree. Trans and non-binary employees of colour experienced more racism than others (69%).
WORKPLACE RACISM INSTIGATORS
Respondents most often named leaders (41%) as the instigators of racism, but co-workers (36%) and customers/clients (23%) also engage in racist acts. Women and men are equally likely to initiate acts of racism; however, trans and non-binary people were never cited in the survey responses as the instigators of racist acts. Four out of five acts of racism are initiated by White people, and one out of five are instigated by another non-White person.
Studies show that ‘whiteness’ is at the centre of work contexts. It is used as a lens through which employees, organisational policies, and business strategies are judged, assessed, and valued. This can result in, for example, dress codes that don’t work for natural Black hair or performance assessment criteria that value White modes of leadership over others.
“When whiteness is the default at work, people from marginalised racial and ethnic groups are pressured to conform to White standards of leadership, presentation, and self-expression,” noted Joy Ohm, Vice President, Knowledge Architect and Writer at Catalyst. “Our research shows that racism is a lever that leaders, colleagues, and customers pull to apply this pressure and maintain the status quo.”
ADDRESSING WORKPLACE RACISM
Leaders must commit to addressing racism and recognising how ‘whiteness’ is centred in work contexts, noted the report. Organisations need to enact policies that eliminate racial workplace inequities, such as implementing systems to end bias from hiring, development and promotion processes and training managers to notice and act when employees experience racism from teammates, customers, or managers.
Key steps also include fostering a climate of mutual respect in the workplace, instituting codes of conduct for clients and customers, and understanding emotional tax. Check out the full report here.
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