A study called Women in the Workplace 2016 found that black women are significantly below their white female counterparts when it comes to the promotion and compensation gaps on the corporate ladder.

This study was conducted by LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company. These organizations worked in partnership together to find out about how progress for women has coming along in corporate America. A total of 132 companies with a combined total of 4.6 million employees were analyzed in this study.

The data was collected using a vast number of surveys completed, which were completed by 34,000 people. All of the data was extracted in 2015. The surveys basically revealed the truth about the so-called “glass ceiling” concept that has been the narrative of women’s rights advocates for many years. Like always, women of color bear the brunt.

“[Women of color] face the most barriers to advancement and experience the steepest drop-offs with seniority,” wrote the author’s of the report written on the Women in the Workplace 2016. The report went on to read the following regarding the barriers women of color deal with in today’s corporate landscape:

“Compared to white women, women of color also report that they get less access to opportunities and see a workplace that is less fair and inclusive. They are 9 percent less likely to say they’ve received a challenging new assignment, 21 percent less likely to think the best opportunities go to the most deserving employees, and 10 percent less likely to feel comfortable being themselves as work. And in all cases, Black women appear to be the most disadvantaged.” (Women in the Workplace: Corporate Pipeline, 2016)

Striving for diversity in a corporate environment, which is largely dominated by wealthy white males is very challenging. The federal legislation, which has been crafted over the years to curb gender discrimination in the workplace has been largely ineffective.

Black women, in particular, can reverse the challenges experienced in the mainstream corporate workplace by honing their skills and taking advantage of the entrepreneurial opportunities that are presenting themselves in today’s highly technology-driven economy.

Source: HealthyBlackWoman.com

Date Posted: Thursday, September 29th, 2016 , Total Page Views: 1914