The Safe Place: Building a safe space for active and effective listening, sharing & allyship in the workplace

An interactive, practical workshop on how organisations can build a safe space for employees to confidently raise issues and share their experiences, better support the development of Black female colleagues and address racial tensions in the workplace.

The event is based on the findings & recommendations of the research report “Breaking the Glass: Understanding the barriers faced by Black Professional Women in career progression” - a comprehensive examination of the hurdles that stifle Black women in the workplace, with realistic and practical recommendations for organisations, employers and staff (please see below for more info on the project and to download the report).

Research facilitated by the ESRC funded Collaboration Labs Programme at The University of Manchester. Event led in partnership with Work and Equalities Institute & the Collaboration Labs, The University of Manchester.

Speakers

Francisca Alvarez-Figueroa and Fernanda Teixeira (The University of Manchester), co-authors of the research report “Breaking the Glass: Understanding the barriers faced by Black Professional Women in career progression”

Sharon Amesu, Director of She Leads for Legacy, a community of Black Female Professionals working in partnership with a range of organisations to accelerate established and aspiring Black female leaders into Senior Leadership positions.

Dr Jenny K Rodriguez, Senior Lecturer in Employment Studies, Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee at Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester & founding member of Decolonizing Alliance.

Dr Isabel Tavora, Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management, Work and Equalities Institute, The University of Manchester, with expertise in how institutions can support female employment and advance gender equality in different countries.

Prof Julia Rouse, Head of the Sylvia Pankhurst Gender Research Centre

Ashanti Bentil-Dhue, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practitioner Guest Lecturer and Speaker,  Co-Founder Diversity In Events Awards & Diverse Supplier Show

Research: Breaking the Glass

There are more than 1.2 million Black and mixed-race women of Black heritage in England; almost 73,000 of them live in the North West (Office for National Statistics, 2011). Many of these Black women perform paid work, contributing with their time and efforts to organisations in diverse sectors and of varying types and sizes.

However, despite their valuable contributions to these organisations, they encounter several barriers that negatively impact their professional trajectories and hinder their progression to leadership positions. Much of this can be explained by the fact that they live at the intersection of sexism and racism (at the very least), a system of perverse discrimination that perpetuates gender and race inequalities and prevents their career advancement. Overall, Black women are underrepresented at leadership levels. The absence of their voice and presence in these positions results in key decisions being made without their influence or input. The resolutions which emerge from these unbalanced spaces ultimately shape organisational culture, and thereby BPW’s lives.

However, little is known about the barriers that Black Professional Women (BPW) have to overcome in order to reach leadership positions. This gap in understanding the phenomenon is a reflection of the wider lack of interest in this topic, something that this research seeks to challenge and address. Therefore, “Breaking the Glass: Understanding the barriers faced by Black Professional Women in career progression” sought to understand the barriers faced by Black women in advancing into leadership positions.

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Main research findings

• Many interview participants described frequent intersection between race and class for BPW, resulting in a lack of social capital, negatively impacts networking, professional progression, cultural familiarity and results in a lack of BPW appropriate support networks
• Survey participants perceived that their barriers to progress in their careers are more associated with their race than with their gender. A significant number of participants (almost 95%) agreed that Black women face unique barriers to advancing to positions of leadership when compared to non-Black women. On the other hand, almost 75% stated that being Black has impacted their career progression. The perception that being Black has influenced their career progression is more evident among participants with greater professional experience.
• Interview respondents tended to characterise their organisational culture a white, middle-class and male, despite the presence of women in significant numbers. Consequently, BPW feel like outsiders, intensifying the effects of racism such as Imposter Syndrome, voicelessness and marginalization.
• When survey participants were asked about the barriers that they have faced throughout their careers, the most selected options were the lack of Black women mentor and role models, followed by racism in the UK and lack of mentorship and sponsorship. Interview participants have also identified the invaluable contribution of mentors and allies for the BPW professional thriving and progression

She Leads for Legacy (SLL)

She Leads for Legacy is a community of individuals and organisations working together to reduce the barriers faced by Black female professionals aspiring for senior leadership and board level positions. Click here to know more about SLL.

Other resources

Intersectionality is a key concept to understand the challenges that Black Women Professionals face at work. Click here to find out more about intersectionality in the words of Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, who coined the term.

More recently, the term 'misogynoir has been used to encapsulate the unique discrimination Black women face. Click here to know more about it according to Dr Moya Bailey, who coined the term.

Our research was featured in The University of Manchester Newsroom: 'Black Professional Women face ‘concrete ceiling’ in career progression'

Photos by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash