Black Women in Leadership: The Complexity of Intersectionality

Abstract

The low numbers of black women working at senior levels in UK organisations remain distressingly low, despite the increasing efforts to develop a diverse leadership pipeline. The gender pay gap data has shown a significant increase in the number of white women in senior roles across sectors. While the ethnicity pay gap data has shown the opposite, in relation to the progress of black women in leadership roles. A simple explanation is that black women are members of two marginalised groups (black and female) and experience greater discrimination, a ‘double jeopardy’, compared to the discrimination faced by individuals that hold one marginalised identity (i.e. white women or black men). The complex and interconnected nature of inequalities associated to the intersection of gender and race tends to be missing from debates about women in leadership. The conceptual framework for this study incorporated intersectionality theory and organisational psychodynamic theory, to explore the experiences of 10 black women senior managers working in the Ministry of Justice. The aim of this presentation is to show how black women deployed strategies to challenge negative gender racial stereotypes; tolerate opposition in a white male patriarchal organisation, and overcome the obstacles of unconscious or implicit bias. In doing so, the discussions will create an opportunity for social change. It will raise awareness about the intersectionality of gender and race amongst leaders, which in turn, will decrease workplace discrimination, to foster a more conducive environment to promote black women into leadership roles. Including black women in leadership debates will also provide an opportunity to seek resolutions to address the underrepresentation of this group in senior positions.