Coqual, the workplace equity-focused nonprofit think tank, has published the first in a three-part research series that studies the internal processes which play an outsized role in how a person advances in their career. Equity at Work: Fulfilling Its Promise through Process was based on findings from virtual focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and an online survey of some 4,410 knowledge workers. It’s a must-read for anyone who cares about workplace equity.
You will not be surprised to learn that when it comes to pay, promotions, and performance evaluations, professionals from underrepresented groups are more likely to report unfair treatment within their organizations, specifically, lower pay and longer time to advancement than their dominant culture peers. Worse, talent managers who were surveyed said that while promotions were the biggest area of inequity within their organizations, their overall priority remained focused on hiring. (Here’s why you can’t hire your way to a diverse workforce.)
The findings on performance evaluations got my attention. Some examples:
- More than one in five Black men and more than one in six Latino men say they were evaluated on different criteria than their peers.
- Asian professionals were the least likely of any group to feel their evaluations reflect their contributions.
- Colorism alert: Among Latinx professionals, those with lighter skin were 57% more likely than those with darker skin to say their evaluations reflect their contributions to the company.
- Veterans were nearly four times as likely as non-veterans to say they are evaluated on different criteria from others at their job level and were nearly 2.5 times as likely to say they were evaluated more harshly than their peers.
It’s all interrelated, Lanaya Irvin, CEO of Coqual tells raceAhead. “Lack of trust in the performance evaluation process can lead to disengagement and attrition,” she says. “Coqual research finds that increased perceived fairness leads to material increase in employee engagement, trust in the company, and overall satisfaction with company culture.” Parsing the data helps paint a clearer picture. “Our colorism and class data illuminates powerful drivers of inequity that don’t get spoken about frequently enough in corporate spaces…professionals with darker skin are three times more likely to report being passed over for promotion by equally or less qualified colleagues. Professionals from lower socio-economic backgrounds were more likely to say they are paid less than their peers.”
Like all systemic problems, there are no quick fixes, but there are plenty of ways to get started.
This story about how a mid-sized law firm rooted out bias in their performance evaluations started with an internal audit. The top line told the story: “[O]nly 9.5% of people of color received mentions of leadership in their performance evaluations — more than 70 percentage points lower than white women. Not surprisingly, leadership mentions typically predicted higher competency ratings the next year.”
Because performance evaluations tend to be a mix of human feedback and collected data, bias can be uncovered at every step of the process, from the design of forms and surveys to the perceptions of individual leaders. The consultants leading the aforementioned audit identified four biases facing underrepresented groups as compared to white male peers — the need to prove themselves repeatedly, the need to display friendly, non-aggressive behaviors, the perception of a mommy track, and racial stereotypes — all of which can be understood through intentional training and better process design.
And we should all get smarter about what gender bias looks like.
For most respondents in the Coqual study, having “actionable feedback” in performance evaluations increased the likelihood that they would report that they were treated fairly. Black and Latinx employees were more likely to say that they felt fairly treated in organizations that offer 360 performance reviews, while a culture of accountability for conduct was important for AAPI and white employees. “Fostering a feedback culture requires intentionality and is critical for team and individual development,” says Irvin. “Underrepresented groups, often discounted for their contributions, begin to feel their contributions don’t matter. They begin to feel no level of performance or output will render them worthy of advancement or development.”
All of this points to the power of individual managers to create the kind of feedback and development culture that help all people thrive. And that’s both good and difficult news: Rooting out bias is challenging work for dominant culture professionals, as “getting comfortable with the uncomfortable” can be an especially exhausting ask. For that, training really matters.
Which leads me back to the “tightrope bias” I alluded to earlier on, defined as the need for BIPOC or other underrepresented employees to be seen as always-on, friendly, and otherwise non-threatening.
Back to the mid-sized law firm example:
“We found that people of color and white women were far more likely to have their personality mentioned in their evaluations (including negative personality traits). What’s optional for white men (getting along with others), seemed to be necessary for white women and people of color. Case in point: 83% of Black men were praised for having a ‘good attitude’ vs. 46% of white men, and 27% of white women were praised for being ‘friendly and warm’ vs. 10% of white men… 50% of Black women’s evaluations included mentions of doing the ‘office housework.’”
Those sorts of personality appraisals seem like a clear target for immediate elimination, right?
So, what does a leader look like in your organization? What behaviors do they exhibit? How will they collectively help create a culture that values truth as much as it once sought to avoid conflict? As organizations become more matrixed, it will be an increasingly hard question to answer, but it’s at the heart of the work that needs to be done.
Ellen McGirt
@ellmcgirt
Ellen.McGirt@fortune.com
On Point
Bias in hiring: Senator Grassley commits microaggression at Congressional hearing Top Republican Senator Charles E. Grassley (Iowa), praised Korean American judicial nominee Lucky Koh for the “hard work ethic” of “you and your people” during her confirmation hearing last week. His remarks reflect a common AAPI stereotype, a damaging “model minority” myth that remains an issue in the workplace and beyond. Yes, he meant it as a compliment, but that’s not the point explains Rep. Judy Chu (Calif.) “Even if you think you’re being complimentary, assigning any character trait to an entire community is the definition of prejudice,” she said. “Treating all members of a group as the same invites mistreatment when one person can be held accountable for the actions of someone else. It may not be the same incitement to violence seen in other slurs, but it is harmful nonetheless.” More on the dangerous ways the model minority myth plays out here, here, and here.
Washington Post
Justice Department set to review racial discrimination at agencies that get federal money, specifically law enforcement agencies, in a bid to combat racism within the criminal justice system. While the scope of the current review is limited to policing, prisons, courts, victim services and certain non-profits, it is likely that similar reviews could extend to other grant recipients in health care, education, and other sectors. About $4.5 billion in federal funding flows to the groups in question; the 90-day review is designed to ensure that the federal government is doing enough to make sure that grant recipients don’t engage in discriminatory practices. Click through for the eye-opening details.
New York Times
Real life economics gets a nod at the Nobels The winners of the 2021 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences are three white men whose can impact the lives of immigrant and low-wage workers in developed economies around the world. David Card, Joshua D. Angrist and Guido W. Imbens have all examined real world populations challenging conventional wisdom on working, wages, and the benefits of education. Card is best known for studies that bust the myth that higher minimum wages led to lower employment levels. Their methodologies and findings have changed the field of labor economics, say experts.
New York Times
Black COVID-19 patients get less follow-up care A new study from the University of Michigan finds that more than 50 percent of Covid patients of color were readmitted to the hospital within 60 days after being released, were 65 percent more likely to experience moderate to severe financial impact because of Covid-19 and took longer to get back to work. The findings also showed a lack of follow-up care from physicians and inadequate discharge plans for patients of color. "So we need to do a much better job about coordinating care, to find out what it is that people need," said lead researcher Dr. Sheria G. Robinson-Lane. "Because we're seeing a significant number of people also that are dying within those 60 days after hospitalization."
NBC News
This edition of raceAhead was edited by Wandy Felicita Ortiz.
On background
Happy Indigenous People Day? Now that October 11, 2021 officially became Indigenous People’s Day in the U.S., it’s worth recalling the unique tensions of “celebrating” a day that honors a history of plunder and genocide. This piece, from last year, does the duty. "Today we understand that while [Columbus] was an explorer and is credited with being one of the first Europeans to arrive in the Americas, we now know a great deal about the history and the way that he and his people behaved when they came to this continent," Shannon Speed, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and director of the UCLA American Indian Studies Center told NPR. "Which included pillaging, raping and generally setting in motion a genocide of the people who were already here. That's not something we want to celebrate. That's not something anyone wants to celebrate." Remembering is complicated.
Fortune
A young Native rapper explores his past and future Frank Waln, a rapper, public speaker, writer, and member of the Sicangu Lakota in South Dakota, uses music to process his own bouts with depression to explore what it’s like to be a modern Native American, inextricably linked to a history of genocide. He finds inspiration in the parallel journey of African Americans. "Hip hop just resonated with a lot of Native youth from my generation, especially growing up on reservations because we could relate to the stories being told in the music."
WBUR
Remains of a colonial-era Black church discovered in Virginia The discovery was made by archeologists at Colonial Williamsburg, a "living" history museum in Virginia. The brick foundation marks the spot of The First Baptist Church, which became a permanent house of worship in 1818. The church was first formed by free and enslaved Black people in 1776, who met mostly in fields and in secret in defiance of anti-assembly laws. The 16x20-foot structure was destroyed by a tornado in 1834. (It’s worth noting that the second church was built in 1856 and was 100 years old when Colonial Williamsburg bought the property and razed it for a parking lot. So, there's that.) But First Baptist’s current pastor, Reginald F. Davis, said the uncovering of the church's first home is “a rediscovery of the humanity of a people.” First Baptist is in another part of town.
ABC News
Moodboard
This is the web version of raceAhead, Fortune's daily newsletter on race, culture, and inclusive leadership. To get it delivered daily to your inbox, sign up here.