Black Lives Matter is a slogan that we see at major sporting events, and on social media, however it is a fact that female managers of color are five times more likely (21%) than their white female counterparts (4%) to say they have quit a job after being overlooked for a new leadership opportunity at work.

While it’s not really news that women and especially women of color are more likely to encounter roadblocks in the journey to a leadership role, it’s very disconcerting to how it’s affecting not just the women, but the companies that are losing out on this talent.

“The research shows women become increasingly disillusioned about equal access as they move up the ladder. While men are more likely to feel included and taken seriously as a leader, women do not experience this same boost,” concluded the report from SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management.

And one example of the result of this culture is that female managers of color are five times more likely (21%) than their white female counterparts (4%) to say they have quit a job after being overlooked for a new leadership opportunity at work.

This at a time when companies are trying to be more inclusive is very troubling.

“The research shows women become increasingly disillusioned about equal access as they move up the ladder. While men are more likely to feel included and taken seriously as a leader, women do not experience this same boost,” concluded the report from SHRM (the Society for Human Resource Management) in its study Women in Leadership: Unequal Access on the Journey to the Top. Survey Results

Some key findings of the report that was released last week include:

Female managers (55%) are more likely than their male counterparts (42%) to aspire to a higher-level role because they think they would be good at it.

Only 61% of women say that their manager encourages them to grow their career compared to 71% of men.

Female managers are less likely than male managers to say employees in their organization are made aware of internal job openings (78% versus 86%).

Female managers are less likely than their male counterparts to have reached their current role by being promoted internally (40% versus 48%).

As women move from individual contributors to managers, they become more likely to believe women in their organization are given fewer opportunities for upward career growth than men (24% versus 37%).

White female managers (65%), and especially female managers of color (57%), are less likely to feel included in key networks at their organization than male managers of color (68%) and white male managers (73%).

Female managers of color (56%) are much less likely to feel they can talk about their personal life with others at work without feeling judged than white female managers (70%), male managers of color (72%) and white male managers (79%).

Female managers with caregiving responsibilities (35%) are more likely to have experienced a pandemic-related career setback than their male counterparts (26%).

Only half (52%) of HR professionals believe that senior leaders in their organization are held accountable for ensuring male and female employees have equitable access to career paths or opportunities that lead to leadership roles.

If you’re a black working woman in your 50s or 60s and these stats reflect your personal experience, it’s understandable why your frustration level is high. What’s worse, according to the U.S. Census bureau, while a full-time working woman earned about 80 cents for every dollar a man did, full-time working black women earned only 67 cents for every dollar.

“In a climate where it’s harder than ever to source and retain talent, it’s imperative that business leaders take a closer look at the gender gaps that exist across their organizations to see that every employee has the opportunity to realize their full potential,”

Paraphrasing Verna Myers, vice president of inclusion strategy at Netflix, says, “Diversity is like inviting everyone to the party and inclusion is asking people to dance.”

The authors of Women in the Workplace seem to agree that true inclusion has yet to be reached. Based on this year’s survey, they write in the report, it is still clear that women of color “face even more biases and barriers to advancement.”

This disconnect between women of color and their managers does not foster good work relationships and often leads them to think about going elsewhere.

“The good news is that unconscious bias training has been started by some companies to ensure that the people involved in the process of hiring and promotions are trained when it comes to establishing criteria,” says Dr. Bill Pomfret.

Bio:

Dr. Bill Pomfret of Safety Projects International Inc who has a training platform, said, “It’s important to clarify that deskless workers aren’t after any old training. Summoning teams to a white-walled room to digest endless slides no longer cuts it. Mobile learning is quickly becoming the most accessible way to get training out to those in the field or working remotely. For training to be a successful retention and recruitment tool, it needs to be an experience learner will enjoy and be in sync with today’s digital habits.”

Every relationship is a social contract between one or more people.  Each person is responsible for the functioning of the team.  In our society, the onus is on the leader.  It is time that employees learnt to be responsible for their actions or inaction, as well.  And this takes a leader to encourage them to work and behave at a higher level.  Helping employees understand that they also need to be accountable, visible and communicate what’s going on