By Tihut Tamrat, Voice & Viewpoint Staff
A 2023 report done by The California Black Women’s Collective Empowerment Institute (CABWCEI), focused on how Black Women experience California – interviewing 1,252 Black Women throughout the state. The report found that 8 in 10 Black women report being discriminated against or mistreated due to their race or gender in the workplace, 4 of whom said racism and discrimination have limited their income and earnings.
CABWCEI examined those disparities deeper and upon more questioning found that the mean wage of all California residents vs. all California women by race, Black women’s wages fare lower than the average California resident in their earnings.
“Black women were paid $54,000 in earnings and Black single moms were paid $50,000 compared to the nearly $90,000 white men earned,” said Dr. Sharon Uche, Researcher and Data analyst of CABWCEI.
The California Black Women’s Workplace Experiences Survey conducted from December 6-16, 2024 collected insights from 452 employed Black women across California. The report shows that nearly 3 in 5 Black women (57%) have experienced racism and/or discrimination at their workplace in the last year. Higher than the racism they face while shopping (54%) and when eating at a restaurant (41%). Most report that these experiences have been damaging to their physical and mental health.
“Nearly half of Black women in California (49%) feel underappreciated, marginalized, excluded from, or passed over for work opportunities. Few feel fully confident that leadership and opportunities are available to them. In fact, only (16%) strongly agree that opportunities for leadership and/or advancement in their workplace are available to them,” says Dr. Shakari Byerly, Managing Partner of EVITARUS, a public opinion research and strategic consulting firm.
“A solid majority of Black women (64% or more) are able to find at least some level of support in the workplace from their supervisor and/or colleagues,” she adds.
59% of Black women report being at least “somewhat” satisfied in their current job — however a notable proportion (38%) say they are “unsatisfied.” California Black women identify compensation/benefit levels, supervisors/company leadership, and the work environment/work culture as key drivers of workplace dissatisfaction.
When thinking about their ideal job and workplace, (92%) of Black women ranked salary or wage rate as very important. (87%) of Black women ranked benefits and the ability to maintain work/life balance as very important. (85%) ranked job security as very important and (76%) ranked work environment/ workplace culture as very important, which all show the highly important priorities for Black women in the workplace.
“Really, the backdrop of the labor and challenges that Black women face situate against their aspirations. Black women in California, according to the study, identify salary, benefits, work life balance and job security as a highly important feature of quality opportunities,” clarifies Dr. Byerly.
“This may not be surprising,” she says. “These findings may be similar for other populations. But it stands in stark contrast to the ceiling that Black women report facing in their jobs.”
In a question asked in the survey, “What aspects of your job contribute most to your dissatisfaction? Please select the top three factors”, (38%) reported their dissatisfaction in their current job. The top three factors ranked as top reasons for their dissatisfaction were salary level, wages, and/or benefits (49%); company/organizational leadership/ supervisors (47%); and work environment/work culture (47%).
Furthermore, nearly 1/3 of Black women in California have had a member of management make a negative comment about them in the workplace, (32%) reporting it came from a supervisor, (81%) saying the comments were unjustified. Race/ethnicity played a key factor in those comments (64%) reporting it factored “a lot” into these matters.
Microaggressions, defined as indirect, subtle, or thinly veiled, everyday instances of racism or marginalization that may or may not be intentional on the surface, are heavily prevalent in the workplace. More than 2 in 3 Black women have experienced or witnessed microaggressions in the workplace.
When prompted, “Have you ever personally experienced or witnessed microaggressions within your workplace?,” (42%) have personally experienced a microaggression within their workplace, (10%) witnessed microaggressions aimed at others, and (15%) both personally experienced and witnessed microaggressions aimed at others within their workplace.
“This data highlights that we haven’t made much progress in moving the needle”, says Glenda Gill, President and CEO of Save a Girl, Save a World.
“I believe we have to invest in policy change and practice transformation for the next generation. Because if we don’t they [Black women] don’t want to be involved. We hear from many of them talking about how they want to be entrepreneurs and create their own environments. If we don’t address these issues, they’re not going to want to be in the workforce. If we improve the experiences of Black women, we will improve it for everyone”, she adds.
“We have a legislative solution that focuses on accountability,” says Kellie Todd Griffin, President and CEO of CABWCEI. “A legislative act that looks at discrimination from an intersectionality standpoint, meaning now you can select both race and gender when filing a discrimination case against an employer.”
With DEI initiatives being dismantled at the federal level, the process of filing a race discrimination complaint is now uncertain.
