Overcoming Racial Bias: 6 Powerful Black Women Weigh in on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day
Written by Katie Johnson, WIN Staff
Many people know about Equal Pay Day, which falls on a different day each year and recognizes the ongoing pay discrepancies for women in the workplace. The wage gap is presented differently for different races. This year, August 13th is recognized as Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. This day symbolizes how far into the year, Black women must work to earn the same as her White male counterpart in the previous year. The wage gap can be attributed to a number of factors, but bias is one significant hurdle.
Black women, on average, earn 62 cents for every dollar their white non-Hispanic male counterparts earn. This is 32% less than the overall average of women which is 82 cents for every dollar. This kind of discrepancy leads to the loss of nearly 2 millions of dollars over the course of a 40-year career. Although illegal, the pay gap persists because gender-based pay discrimination exists. Antiquated gender norms and expectations lead to biases that hold women back. Black women are unique as they rest in the intersection of gender and racial discrimination. If nothing changes, the pay gap won't close for more than 100 years for Black women and women of color.
We sat down with 6 powerful Black female leaders, from diverse backgrounds and industries to discuss bias in the workplace, and seek their advice to help rising young Black female professionals. The ongoing pandemic offers a unique opportunity to have a conversation about the pay gap, wealth building, and creating a more equitable economy. We wanted to know how the Black Lives Matter movement has shifted perspectives in the workplace, if at all, and what companies and Black women can do to diminish racial bias. Finally, we wanted to know what Black women could do to push forward in the workplace in a meaningful way. Because no one should have to wait 100 more years to be paid what they're worth.
Sarah Kunst
Managing Director at Cleo Capital
On whether the Black Lives Matter movement has made a significant impact on the way Black women are seen or treated in the workplace…
The idea of “Hey, we’ve seen sort of a resurgence in the conversation around race in America with the Black Lives Matter protest, is everything fixed yet? Is everything changed?” The answer of course is no. Because these things take a very long time and they take a lot of work. They take a lot of companies, and bosses, and employees, and employers getting uncomfortable with the status quo and deciding to change it. I think that we are seeing a shift in the willingness to have the conversation or the willingness to acknowledge, reality. Will that turn into real gains? I think that’s something that we’ll see over the coming months and years.
On meaningful changes that companies can make to address bias and help Black women achieve greater parity and success in the workplace…
Start to look at who’s already inside of your company. Start by being really intentional and saying: “Even if we didn't mean to, there’s probably been some gaps here. And how do we fill them?” Sometimes, it’s as simple as you hired somebody in a lateral title. Your company might be pretty good on these issues, but if a company they worked at before wasn’t, they might have an Assistant Manager title when really they should have been a Senior Manager at this point. One thing that we do a lot in America that isn't helpful, is we rely a lot on data from your past job to tell us how much to pay you and what your title should be. The problem with that is that you're assuming a lot of goodwill in their former employers that may or may not be there. Most of us during interviews aren't going to say, “Hey, my last employer or my current employer is underpaying me or wasn’t promoting me” because then it might look like you’re difficult to work with. So starting there, inside of your own companies, given what we know about who gets overlooked and how, and who is underpaid and underpromoted, ask what can we do to maybe change that?
On the role that negotiation can play…
I think the role that negotiation can play in these things is huge but it’s also often a double-edged sword. We know that often when women, particularly women of color, negotiate, they're seen as ungrateful or difficult, and even if they win the battle of being paid a little bit more or getting a title boost at the moment it can hurt them long term. It’s incredibly important to understand how to negotiate but it's also incredibly important to understand the data around what happens when different people negotiate. It's not fair, but it’s important to know and arm yourself with that knowledge so that when you are going into those negotiations, you’re sort of coming to the table with thoughtfulness both about what you deserve, how to get it, and also ensure you’re winning the war and the battle.
Sarah’s advice for young Black women as they navigate the workplace…
Make sure that you’re networking. Don’t only depend on your direct rapport or your skip-level or your coworkers to be the ones who are going to elevate you. If it's appropriate for your industry, think about how to be a thought leader, for lack of a better term, in what you're doing. And feel free to ask other people for help but make sure that you’re generally giving first before you get. No one likes a cold email saying “Hey, you don’t know me, but will you mentor me?” because we all have a lot of stuff to do. Be really smart about how you bring value to the table and know that even though you’re not, unfortunately, always going to be properly valued, that you have a lot of worth and you can do awesome things. You just have to work really hard and get really smart at whatever it is you want to do.
Christine Michel Carter
Author and Marketing Strategist
On whether the Black Lives Matter movement has made a significant impact on the way Black women are seen or treated in the workplace…
I think it's different from previous years. Black Lives Matter didn't start this year, it's been years and years of work, and there's been years and years that even my generation has seen police brutality, and just racial injustice. I think what was the catalyst, was it being mixed with COVID and quarantining and just an overall environment and aura of empathy in our nation at the time. This is what really helped to spark about change in the workplace for Black women. The advancement of conversations around “How can we be more inclusive?”, “How can we not necessarily say that we are a diverse company, but take it a step further and say ‘Black Lives Matter.’?” I'm very happy of all the progress that's been made, I think there is much to be done. And personally I see a lot of companies talking-the-talk, but I want to know December 31st, 2020 that they are walking-the-walk too. I don't want this to just be a summer campaign for a lot of brands where they were only trying to boast their inclusivity and pick up on the current event. I really want major change for my race.
On meaningful changes that companies can make to address bias and help Black women achieve greater parity and success in the workplace…
I think that companies need to make their hiring practices transparent. Recently, I’ve seen articles where the secret underground way of hiring and maintaining employees has come bubbled to the surface. For example, a lot of organizations will say that they post a job publicly, and a lot of women, including Black women, apply, and then they [the company] will go with an internal candidate that they already had lined up. On the other hand, there’s discussion around bringing on new talent but then a woman, or a Black woman applies for that role but has no idea of the underground negotiations and conversations and advocacy that needs to happen prior to her even applying for that role. Networking is a part of this underground and Black women just aren’t used to that. Instead, it’s black and white for us.
I think to get over that bias and get over kind of the systemic racism that happens either explicitly or implicitly, companies need to talk about exactly what it takes to get a job and what it takes to advance in the workplace and not necessarily hide the fact that it does help to network and it does help to advocate for yourself in the workplace. Because again, talking the talk and walking the walk as an organization when it comes to hiring Black women, it seems to be some kind of disconnect there.
On the role that negotiation can play…
For a Black woman, research is everything when it comes to negotiating their worth and what their benefits and their compensation are going to be in the workplace. More so than being confident, it's about knowing what the industry is paying for your role. It's about knowing your worth and knowing what your experience brings to the table, and then actually saying, “I deserve to be in line with my peers”, “I don't deserve an X percent raise, I deserve double that,” and “I am bringing a wealth of education and experience to the role”. That's the part that I think a lot of Black women miss, that they think just speaking up and asking for a role or hoping that their managers will help them advance in the workplace is enough and quite honestly, it’s not. There's a lot of independent work that's involved. One of the major things, when it does come down to negotiating or advocating for yourself, is doing research as to how you stack up against your peers.
Christine’s advice for young Black women as they navigate the workplace…
Network and to tell everybody what you do, tell everybody what you’re going to do, and what you did. Don’t be afraid to keep reminding everybody of your elevator pitch. Never be afraid to remind everybody of the success that you’ve had. Just keep drilling it in their heads. Because no one really pays attention to your annual performance review. People rarely trust the opinions of the managers. Never be afraid to advocate for yourself and be your own cheerleader and tell folks why you’re absolutely amazing and deserve opportunities in the workplace.
Caroline Hubbard
Growth Product Manager, Better.com
On whether the Black Lives Matter movement has made a significant impact on the way Black women are seen or treated in the workplace…
While I’m grateful that this movement has brought this discourse back into the public discussion, I am yet to get my hopes up about how much it's doing to actually change the way Black women are treated within corporations. One thing that I heard at a protest that really resonated with me is: the people who are in power have to ask themselves the question: “What are you willing to give up in order to tilt the scales of justice?”. It's not just going to be one day we wake up and everyone is equal and happy, there will be something that people have to sacrifice and give up in order to make things fair, and that’s the hard question America has to wrestle with.
On meaningful changes that companies can make to address bias and help Black women achieve greater parity and success in the workplace…
I think the first thing is acting with your dollars. That’s what we’ve seen a lot of companies, venture capital firms, doing over the past couple of months is actually directing funds towards these populations of women. A lot of times what we hear is “it’s the talent gap”, “it’s a pipeline issue”, and that's why Black women or minorities in general are not in these positions. I really want to demystify that because the talent is there. Black women have been around for centuries and been talented and educated for centuries and it's really about people taking their bias out of the equation and giving these people an opportunity and a chance.
With that, making bets on Black women and giving them the resources that they need to just flourish and succeed. Ask: “How do we incorporate and bring their perspectives into the room?” And not only bring them into the room but listen to them, and allow them to flourish and allow them to feel encouraged.
On the role that negotiation can play…
I recently have gone through a negotiation process and I think it plays a part for the individual who is negotiating, to always know how much you’re worth. Whatever number someone comes back to you with, you’re worth 10 times, 20 times more. That’s a really hard concept to understand especially as someone who is in an earlier stage of your career, it's really hard to push back and push for more. I think negotiating really comes from a place of really understanding how much you're worth, how much you bring to the table, and what value a company or organization is going to receive from you being there. So, don’t be afraid to ask, because it can’t hurt! You just have to be super courageous, and you have to be super deadpan and ask for what you want.
Caroline’s advice for young Black women as they navigate the workplace…
My first piece of advice would be know that you’re enough and more. We talk about this idea of imposter syndrome and we talk about the feeling of being the only one, and I’ve been in that situation many times. You really just have to believe, every single day (and it’s very difficult), that you are enough and that you and your skills, all of the work you've been doing, has led you to this moment. You can only feel inferior if you allow yourself to, no one else can make you feel that way, so know that you’re enough. Then be very opportunistic. Always look for ways in which you can level-up your skills and network. You have to be hungry. And that comes with having this confidence. Go after what you want at every level and always be thinking five years ahead, where you want to be, and visualizing yourself there.
Randi Bryant
Author, Speaker, and Sistaintendent of Inclusivity
On whether the Black Lives Matter movement has made a significant impact on the way Black women are seen or treated in the workplace…
I think people are expecting: “Okay, now we’ve gotten this wake up call, we’ve recognized that this is an issue, and we need to ensure that Black women are being paid equally” but, it’s not gonna change overnight. It takes work. There are daily actions that must happen in order to make real inclusivity work and become a reality. What I think the BLM movement has done is that it has woken some of us up - to the discrepancies, the disparities that happen in the workplace for us Black women. I think that we are now seen. I don’t know if we’re necessarily seen differently, but at least we’re seen. People are saying, “Wow, you know, I’ve never actually noticed that Randi isn’t in any of our meetings” or “Oftentimes, I’m sitting in a boardroom, and nobody Brown and Black is in that room.” We’re at that phase now of awareness. I compare it to a weight loss journey. We didn’t get here overnight and we’re not gonna get out of this over night. It’s going to take effort every single day to get ourselves where we wanna be.
On meaningful changes that companies can make to address bias and help Black women achieve greater parity and success in the workplace…
To address implicit and explicit bias in the workplace, so we can fix this wage gap, I suggest that companies first embrace the fact that we all are biased. Every single one of us are biased. There’s not a bad guy in this story. It is part of a human flaw. Actually it was designed to help us protect ourselves. Releasing some of that guilt and shame that we have around it will allow us just to address it. For immediate action, just own it and talk about it. Once you're aware of it, then you can put things in place to ensure that these disparities don’t happen. One way to do this is by hiring an outside consultant or within your own organization, having people look at what are people getting paid, what groups of voices are absent, and who is getting promoted most. Look at how Black women are being treated in your company, honestly, and then ensuring that you fix those spaces - those gaps.
It’s also very helpful to be transparent. Be transparent about what you’d like to accomplish. Be transparent about where you have failed in the past. Be transparent about your pay wages. Sometimes there may not be a gap, but people assume there is a gap. So be very honest about everyone’s pay. Black women feel as if we're participating in a game that someone didn’t tell us the rules. Yes, we’re very good in our chosen profession, we may be an outstanding highly credential attorney, but then there’s also this game that’s played at organizations all over the place that we may not be aware of. Because of the real issues of this country where we were enslaved. We don’t have grandparents that taught us how to perform in certain organizations in certain places. We don’t have the inside track. So, realizing that and dealing with it honestly.
On the role that negotiation can play…
I believe [the role negotiation plays] takes the responsibility off of our history in America and our organizations, and places it squarely on the shoulders of Black females. Do we have a part in knowing how to negotiate, and learning how to negotiate, in realizing our own worth? Absolutely. We aren’t taught to negotiate oftentimes. It is oftentimes seen that we should play ourselves down and being seen as strong and accomplished are actually negative in many places in our world. So do Black women need to work on that? Yes! But at the same time, it sounds really nice to say lean in, it sounds fantastic and easy. But if you are not even invited to certain conversations to be able to lean in, it’s somewhat unrealistic. The organizations and the environments need to change. Because I believe we’re ready. We will sprout when that soil is fertile. When companies are willing to recognize and willing to accept us, we will thrive and grow. So yes, negotiation is important but I think that it's not as much of the issue as people what it to be.
Randi’s advice for young Black women as they navigate the workplace…
Oh, so much! First, get a mentor. Find someone who you know will advocate for you, who will bring up your name in meetings when you’re not around. Find someone who will tell you little secrets that aren't taught in school, those ways to navigate the trap doors, the hidden hallways, the tunnels that you can sneak through in order to be successful.
Second, absolutely believe that you’re worthy. We Black women struggle with that, because we oftentimes don’t even see ourselves mirrored in places. It’s not like we’re going home to our father, third-generation doctor or third-generation Vice President. So we feel as if we’re imposters as if we’re not supposed to be there. When you’re Black and a woman and you are in certain spaces, it shows you are one hell of a woman. You have overcome more than most. So you absolutely are deserving of wherever you are. Just own your own phenomenalness.
Finally, another great tip for Black women navigating these organizations is to get involved. Do not wait for someone to invite you, because most likely, the reality of the situation, sadly, is that you’re not going to be invited. Go anyway. Show up anyway. Oftentimes because we’re not invited, we get the mindset of I’m just here to do my job and that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna go home and not even worry about these people who are not including me. Yes, worry about it because those are the times that people get promoted. That’s the time where the magic happens. So, go. Make it happen, make it a part of your job to involve yourself. Say, “I hear that there’s a meeting at 4 o'clock and I have something I’d like to share that I think could be valuable”, or “This new project is opening up, I would love to get involved in that”. Make yourself almost undeniable because at this point you own that you deserve to be there. Get yourself there and don’t wait for the invitation.
Cherise Bernard
Campus Recruitment and Diversity, Spotify
On whether the Black Lives Matter movement has made a significant impact on the way Black women are seen or treated in the workplace…
I think that the current climate right now has changed the way Black women are seen in the workplace. Not necessarily by other people, but by Black women ourselves. I think that we are now starting to look closely at what we’re contributing, how we’re showing leadership skills, how we’re advancing in the workplace. And it’s made us really take a look at what we really need to be fighting for for ourselves and how we can self-advocate. I actually think that’s the best thing that’s happened and the most important thing that’s happened. Not necessarily how others are seeing us, but we are starting to see ourselves and I think that’s critical for self-advocacy.
On meaningful changes that companies can make to address bias and help Black women achieve greater parity and success in the workplace…
Corporate America and other industries have a long way to go in terms of how we can reconcile this with bias, implicit and explicit. Education is one piece of that. Educating leaders on what implicit and explicit bias means and how it shows up in their industries. It creates an opportunity for very personalized approaches because what education looks like in the tech industry may not be what education looks like for universities or for the construction industry or the design industry. I think that we really have to start to now look at specific environments where Black women are excelling and really create personalized approaches for those environments. This means looking at the ways people advance in those environments and how Black women’s voices can be amplified or how organizations promote them into leadership positions. Then basing these decisions on data.
If we try to look at only compensation from a perspective of what we think someone should be paid and not base it on data, with their education level and their tenure, that's when, the whole idea of implicit bias creeps in and we’re making compensation and pay decisions based on our own opinions and views of a certain group of people.
On the role that negotiation can play…
How you begin a role is really dependent on you and what you ask for. Being a Black woman myself, I know personally the concept of imposter syndrome, and not asking for the number that I really want to ask for because I’m just not sure about will that happen for me, or will it be approved. Imposter syndrome has a lot to do with the whole negotiation aspect of this.
Black women also have to know, and be educated on, the decisions that go into compensation. We have to do our research before we get to the table and come armed with a lot of numbers and a lot of metrics and that’s really going to assist us in the way that we are able to negotiate. If we come into that table in those discussions blind, without knowing what others in this role are making, then we run the risk of not being able to negotiate from a really strong place. I think that we also have to do our due diligence just as the company is doing, and be able to really stand on metrics and stand on numbers. As Black women we have to come to the table strong in what we believe that we’re worth and have that data and the metrics to back it up.
Cherise’s advice for young Black women as they navigate the workplace…
Have faith in yourself. When you believe in yourself and you know what you can do and you are fully, fully aware of your skillset, and your expertise, and your capability, there is nothing anyone will say that will make you doubt it. You just have to come to the table very strong. Do the necessary things to build up your confidence. If you have to take a course, if you have to do some LinkedIn Learning, read books, make sure that you are coming to the table armed with knowledge and expertise, so that you can build up your own confidence. Because, once you’re not confident, once you have the doubts, anything someone says can pull you off track.
Second, step out and take risks. My mentor once told me that you do the job you’re hired for and then you do a little bit more than that because you always wanna be in a position where you’re learning, where you’re taking initiative, where you’re stretching yourself. Do the things that are gonna make you stand out from the crowd and those things are normally not the status quo.
Kathryn Finney
Builder of Awesome Things
On whether the Black Lives Matter movement has made a significant impact on the way Black women are seen or treated in the workplace…
There’s really a brilliant quote that I meditate on quite often: “What if we are not in the darkness of the tomb but the darkness of the womb.” Meaning, we’re right at the beginning of something new being birthed. I think with Black Lives Matter has done, and continues to do, in parallel with the pandemic, it’s created an environment in which we can question everything that we thought was truth and realize that what we were told was true may not necessarily be true. No one has ever been alive during a global pandemic. The Civil Rights Movement was just asking for a very basic acknowledgment of our humanity and now we’re asking for not just acknowledgment as humans but an equal seat at the table. We want you to understand that we have value too.
This is such a unique moment we’re in. Everything we thought we knew as truth is being torn down. I think there’s an openness to connect with other people and other identities that just weren’t there before. This isn’t a political statement by any means, but having leadership that has been a spectacular failure, the who of who should be leaders has been completely dismantled too. For that, I think there is an openness and that’s exciting.
On meaningful changes that companies can make to address bias and help Black women achieve greater parity and success in the workplace…
Look at your core values and ask yourself, “Are we really living up to them?”. It's amazing how many corporations and companies, large and small, will go and spend thousands, and thousands of dollars coming up with these core values and statements and put them on their site and never look at them again and never question if they’re following them. One of the first things that corporations can do is create a system in which these values are checked every year. Some companies that I know of, which have been really successful, have created a platform in which managers, and other leaders, are judged and whose bonuses are tied to how closely they are following the core values of the corporation. Which is a really smart way to hold people accountable so that they're not just words on the website, but you’re actually doing it.
Another idea is that it sounds really simple but just hire Black people. Just do it. Just say, "I want you to hire Black people. I want to have 10% Black people 50% of which should be Black women," and go do it. As a CEO you have power. I think there is this tendency for people, particularly White males, to not understand the power they have, because they're looking at their power in relation to the White male in front of them, not to the Black, the Latina, the LGBTQ person who is behind them in the privilege scale. And so, you have power. If you want to hire more women of color, if you want to create a system, a space, for that group of people, you can do it. Just do it.
On the role that negotiation can play…
The challenge with negotiations as a black woman is that you're never told what the baseline is. Meaning it's hard to negotiate when you don't know what everyone else is getting. If I know that everyone else is getting $150,000 a year for a salary, then I know that my baseline is $150,000 and I can negotiate from that point. If I'm never told that and made to speculate, or find out by myself, or sometimes ask other Black people who may be getting paid less themselves, then I am always starting at a disadvantage - because I don't know. This is where the Sponsorship, particularly from White allies, is super important because sharing how much you make, sharing how much should be asking for is huge.
Kathryn’s advice for young Black women as they navigate the workplace…
We are in a time period in which nobody knows nothing. It’s not grammatically correct, but [essentially] there is no set path. There are only three people who were alive in 1918, and they were babies. Nobody knows what's going to happen. No one knows right what's next. And so as a young black woman you're in an amazing position because you are getting to recreate all the systems. All the things that people told you that were true, they're no longer true. You have an opportunity to lead us out of the darkness of the womb. You have an opportunity now. You can restructure your life and live it whatever way you want to live it because us older people, we don't know. And anyone who tells you and speaks to you with a high level of certainty right now is fake, they're acting, because we don't know. And so, it's an amazing opportunity because you get to recreate. We can create what world we wanna live. You have a choice. Choose wisely.
**Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.