A population overlooked in DEI: Black Women who fall into low socio-economic status
Our workplaces do not fully represent and embrace all people equally, specifically Black women. Black women in the workplace face a slew of life-altering inequities due to low salaries, lack of promotions, and little progress on the advancement into leadership positions. Similar to racial discrimination, Black women face subtle discrimination because of their low socio-economic status during the initial stages of the hiring phase and the employee’s life cycle, which can lead to being overlooked, underpaid, and marginalized in the workplace.
During the hiring phase, applicant tracking systems and their reviewers may overlook and wean out qualified candidates because of their first and last name (selection of names) They may also be overlooked because of the demographics in which they live. Employers may screen out applicants who live in low-SES geographic areas by requiring them to live nearby to justify not hiring them. (Peterman 2018). For example, their home address may end in zip code that automatically informs the resume reviewer where they live. As companies are looking for more culture fit, the potential candidate may be automatically eliminated from obtaining an interview, just because of location. Moreover, many employers now require college degrees for entry level jobs that have not previously required higher-level education (Peterman 2018). Black women may be overlooked during the hiring phase because they do not have the same educational backgrounds or connected to the same professional networks as the individuals currently working within the company.
Subtle discrimination may continue to play an integral part in the hiring process, even if a Black woman is interviewed for a position. Their low-socio-economic status may prevent them from advancing to the next set of interviews. Employers frequently screen applicants for traits and cultural characteristics that are to be closely related to their socio-economic status, (Peterman 2018). For example, a common physical trait is missing or crooked teeth. The candidate may not secure the job or move into the next phase because their teeth indicate a certain class status, simply because they could not afford dental and/or orthodontic services. Along those same lines, screening individuals out because they do not interview well and have not attended ivy-league university continue to wean Black women from potential hiring.
Quite the opposite, low-socio-economic status employees (specifically Black women) within an organization, can continue to experience discrimination, as they are often distinguished by their class. Class is defined as one’s relative status according to income, wealth, power or position (Mayani & Stringer, 2011). Black employees are often overlooked for promotions and leadership roles because they do not have enough skills and post-secondary education for certain roles, causing them to stay in certain positions for a longer duration, never advancing to any other role, or gaining new skills sets outside the scope of their current work.
Black women lack the networks and strategic relationships needed to start and advance their careers. This inability to grow professionally is negatively related to factors exacerbated in the complacency in work environments, resulting in a combination of lower family incomes, a reliance on public assistance, and micro-level educational achievement. These issues especially affect Black single mothers with less access to positive family and community structures.