Shared Sisterhood: The Business Case for Intersectionality
March 29, 2022
In a recent gender workplace study commissioned by HP, 45% of WOC in the U.S. expressed a desire to be promoted this year, versus 26% of white women. However, only 31% of WOC received those promotions, compared to 44% of white women. Data like this suggest that barriers exist for women of color in attaining leadership positions.
The gist:
In many ways, “we’re still in the early stages of this transformation journey,” to bake in diversity, and “keep intersectionality top of mind.”
And of course, “it’s not just the right thing to do — there’s also a business case for it.”
The Stats:
Companies that are ranked the highest in gender diversity in executive levels are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies with the lowest gender diversity, according to a 2020 McKinsey report.
Companies that ranked highest in cultural and ethnic diversity had 36% higher profitability than businesses that lacked cultural diversity.
The Article authors, Lesley Slaton Brown, Chief Diversity Officer at HP Inc + LaTasha Gary, the Director, of the Sustainable Impact Program Management Office, also have the following advice for white women to embrace and promote intersectionality at work.
Building trust requires white women to actively listen to women and not be afraid to change if necessary to create a more inclusive workplace. It’s not expecting women of color to act or think like the dominant group. The goal is not to work the same way, but rather to win together in a space where we acknowledge and celebrate our differences.
We also encourage white women to be sponsors of all women, and not just those who look like them. Sponsorship comes in many shapes and forms. You call address bias and be an upstander when you see acts of microaggressions inflicted on women who are “Double Onlys,”or, women who have intersectional identities and who are more likely to experience microaggression than others.
You can tap women of color on the shoulder when you see opportunities that help them grow.
You can keep an eye out for ways that elevate their expertise on the team.
You can advocate for them to executives and other stakeholders and encourage them to strive for leadership positions.
Until those gains impact the women for whom things are still the most unequal, we will never fully realize the benefits of true gender equity.
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