by Jacqueline Kim
For decades, discussions about women in the workforce have revolved around a singular question: How can women succeed in traditionally male-dominated workplaces?
Though important, the question is not nearly as complex as reality demands. The workplace and the world are not divided solely by man/woman. There are countless other ways people are categorized and suffer from disparities. Rather than being celebrated for cultural diversity and unique backgrounds, women of color continue to have a worse experience in the workplace compared to their white women peers. Throw age into the mix and things get even more divisive and contentious.
My Own Experience with the Myth of Meritocracy
I am a 23-year-old East Asian woman in the American workforce, and I can think of several instances that probably wouldn’t have happened had I been white. Nonwhite women shouldn’t ever have to imagine how different situations might’ve gone if they were white—but here we are.
In my experience, I’ve perceived less “permission” to be a certain way in work settings compared to my white colleagues, leading me to self-shield and fine-tune my every move. It’s hard to describe how much seems to be going on in the air and how much of it is in my head. Whatever the case, speaking feels difficult and I grow self-conscious in front of majority white spaces despite my best efforts to ignore the fact that I’m one of, if not the only, nonwhite person there.
I know it’s 2024 and no one’s supposed to care about how someone looks, only about how good of a job they do—but meritocracy, or the system where people are given power, influence, and reward based solely on their abilities and achievements rather than their social, cultural, or economic background, is a myth to a lot of Americans like me.
Microaggressions and Hostility
Cheryl I. Harris wrote in her 1993 Harvard Law Review article “Whiteness as Property” of generalizing beliefs that in the modern world, only the “recognition of merit” sets Americans apart from each other within institutions such as schools or the workplace. Despite years of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) research and efforts, however, I and many minorities feel evaluated (a better word would be “judged”) by more than just our work performance. The annual Women in the Workplace report by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org accordingly finds that “the workplace is a mental minefield for many women, particularly those with traditionally marginalized identities. Women who experience microaggressions—and self-shield to deflect them—are three times more likely to think about quitting their jobs and four times more likely to almost always be burned out” (emphasis mine).
In 2024, it may be less likely for women of color to experience outright racism and hostility in the workplace, but we are far from safe from subtle discrimination that takes the form of “fluid process[es] of social interaction, perception, evaluation, and disbursement of opportunity” as described by Tristin Green in her 2003 Harvard Civil Rights Civil Liberties Law Review article “Discrimination in Workplace Dynamics”.
A Few Examples of Fluid Processes
What do these “fluid processes” look like in real life? To me:
- Surprisingly mundane comments here and there about how much or little I speak, sometimes a certain kind of silence.
- A likely undeliberate but still awkward exclusion from golf conversations.
- A hesitation to joke about some things around me, but a strange readiness to joke about other things.
The resulting “mental minefield”:
- An inward panic when an opportunity for external interfacing is mentioned, which feels more like a threat.
- Calculations in my head about how much I’ve contributed, whether the quality of said contributions has sufficiently “made up” for the fact that I’m a young woman of color.
- Whether the quantity of said contributions hasn’t crossed any lines or taken up too much space.
It’s Time to Break the Myths of Meritocracy
I think young women of color would much rather concern ourselves with what we can get done and how that’ll leave our surroundings better than we found them, not how we’re supposed to navigate the invisible hurdles we face as minorities. Despite my lack of control over the myth of meritocracy and “fluid processes” of subtle disadvantages, I’m not interested in doing the constant invisible labor of putting up a front, battling for social relevance, or curating my looks and the minute fluctuations in the tone of my voice when presenting or asking for something.
I’m interested in how I can shape up my skills to advance the mission of an organization I value. I’m interested in how to be a more efficient, reliable, kind, competent member of society.
As long as we are in America, minorities can’t completely avoid everything that comes with being minorities, and certainly not by our individual efforts. It’s hard to tell if my perception is accurate when I’m in majority white spaces, or if I’m projecting. This is simply the authentic account of what’s happening through my own eyes. I know this is not the first account of its kind, and certainly not the last for the foreseeable future—but we can shape what that’ll look and feel like, if even only slightly, together ourselves.
How to Create Change
Day-to-day, change might look like a firm nod of encouragement during a white male-dominated meeting, smart follow-up questions to lift each other up in front of others, and invitations to work on skill-advancing projects. This kind of support must come from male peers as much as from female peers.
More systematically, workplaces can establish transparent pay practices to ensure fairness throughout the organization to address wage gaps that disproportionately affect women of color. Mentorship programs specifically designed to uplift women of color in the industry—and not siloed away as niche initiatives but integrated in broader business strategy—would help naturally promote inclusive leadership.
Finally, they can ask women of color how they can best support their careers and wellbeing at work and implement flexible work arrangements. Working from home “has, perhaps accidentally, very much liberated workers, particularly women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) workers,” said John Gerezma, CEO of the Harris Poll.
It certainly has been one step towards actualizing meritocracy in the workplace, because in our homes our one pair of eyes no longer have to do the labor of many pairs of eyes, seeing ourselves through our differences from the others. All that energy we get to save can go towards doing better work.
I close with a final message to workplace leaders: I encourage you not to wait for a woman of color to bring up the need for better DEI efforts for firm leadership to enact policies reactively. Start by establishing this as an ongoing priority and provide ways employees can contribute their ideas and share their observations freely and safely. Screen for competent, kind, honest, and empathetic employees—and consider instituting a company policy as amazingly comprehensive as A10 Associates’: Be Kind, Work Hard, and Tell the Truth.
