1. Black Women in Corporate

None of us have had perfect lives. We all have had some form of traumatic experience, but black women are subjected to this unique form of discrimination. 

Misogynoir is a term coined in 2010 by Moya Bailey to describe the “specific hatred, dislike, distrust and prejudice directed towards Black women.”

As a result, black women especially in corporate are far too often overlooked and unnoticed.

From a recent LinkedIn survey, we asked black women about their experiences of being in an organisation where they are one of the few black women or black people in the organisations and what some of their biggest challenges were navigating the space.

47% of Black women had experienced racial and gender bias at work

12% Experienced loneliness and mental health issues

29%  Challenges with recognition and salary increase

17%  Felt there were a lack of opportunities for progression 

What’s the impact of misogynoir?

Many black women who work in corporate impacted by misogynoir. 

Dealing with this constant prejudice can lead to a lack of confidence and self-esteem, which can cause an increased risk of anxiety, depression, panic attacks and OCD.

In the workplace, this may show up as;

• Feeling like you do not belong, decreasing your sense of purpose and productivity at work.
• A heightened feeling of imposter syndrome, with an increased likelihood of feeling like a fraud or not being recognising for your achievements or good enough.
• Struggling to get a promotion and feeling overlooked despite working much harder than your peers.
• Too often, feeling the need to over-deliver and push themselves to extreme standards, leaving them feeling burned out and emotionally drained.
• Lacking the rewards or recognition you deserve, which in turn can drive perfectionism

3 phrases of coping with misogynoir;

1. Raising awareness
It’s very important to raise awareness that these issues do continue to exist in our society and black women constantly have to fight prejudice directed towards them. Anti-racism education should also explore misogynoir and others need to listen more to the experiences of black women. This awareness process can also involve black women separating what is you from what is
projected onto you by others, such as rejecting the common stereotype of the ‘angry black woman’.

2. Containment
When you go through certain situations, it can be helpful to process some of it by talking to someone else that has faced similar experiences or to just be able to vent and get how you’re feeling off your chest. This will then create more space for you to be able to think about your wider perspective of the situation.

3. Validation
Validation is a key part of this process to help cope with the challenges faced by black women around self-esteem and imposter syndrome. When we don’t feel validated it can have a real impact on our mental health and wellbeing. When our feelings are not validated, there is an increased risk that you might find yourself less willing to trust those around you. Having your feelings validated by yourself or those close to you can also help reconnect with yourself.

Advice for black women in corporate experiencing misogynoir

• Try to make an effort to tackle the internal side of you by focusing on developing yourself. Finding your true self, who you are and what you really mean will allow you to show up as your authentic self without all of the expectations from society.

• Representation matters! If your workplace is not the most representative of people from a similar background to you, it is a good idea to surround yourself with positive people who are more representative and achieving great things both online and
  offline. Greater representation can make a massive difference to the way you feel about yourself and how much you believe in your potential accomplishments

• Building a network of people who share similar values to you can be so valuable. This could be a network of other black women who are going through similar experiences. Networks can really help people identify with each other, feel less
  alone and find solutions for themselves. It will give you the opportunity to share stories, how you’ve dealt with certain situations and what your feelings were.