It’s no secret that black people are widely underrepresented in the highest-status professional jobs. Even when they have Harvard MBAs, black women are generally absent in leadership positions at most Fortune 500 companies, and black men are in high-ranking roles in only a handful.
Black Professional Men Describe What It’s Like to Be in the Gender Majority but the Racial Minority
A new study interviewed 42 African American doctors, lawyers, engineers, and bankers.
April 11, 2018
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Summary.
How are black men’s experiences in the workforce influenced by race and gender — and how do they differ by type of occupation? Research shows that black men in male-dominated professions largely have amiable relationships with their white male coworkers, unlike women, who have to walk a fine line. At the same time, black men also describe a sense of alienation and isolation on the job, and find it taboo to reach out to other black men to create bonds. These experiences are markedly different from black men in occupations that are majority female, such as nursing. Taken together, the experiences of black men in different occupations show that black professionals’ lives at work can vary widely.