The disparity in hierarchical achievement between African American (black) and Caucasian (white) professionals is a known issue in corporate America. Although many organizations have pledged their commitment to closing this gap through programs aimed at increasing the diversity leadership pipeline, little progress has been made to increase the diverse representation in firms. Despite the many obstacles that hinder black managers from rising to leadership positions in U.S. firms, some have found a path to organizational success. Practitioners and scholars alike acknowledge that explicit racism in corporations is no longer openly accepted. Instead, the literature reveals more subtle forms of race-based insults directed toward people of color, racial microaggressions. This research used semi-structured interviews to explore how African American leaders who have achieved career success in large and mid-sized firms cope with the chronic racial microaggressions that occur at the workplace. Furthermore, I explored the implications of those coping strategies on their confidence and ability to make decisions that affect their careers, and ultimately the subsequent career progression associated with their career decisions. This analysis concluded that a relationship exists between methodologies employed to cope with microaggression stresses, career decision-making confidence, and career progression with black professionals. The study results suggest that acknowledging chronic racial microaggression stressors in the workplace by black professionals and using coping mechanisms that approach the stressors as problems to be addressed and solved rather than avoided may be a more likely path to organizational success. / Business Administration/Interdisciplinary

<p>Postdoctoral scholars encounter various challenges as they navigate the gap between graduate school and faculty or industry positions, one of which includes the challenge of work-family conflict and balance. The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields represent one sector of the workforce where a closer examination of work-family conflict and balance is important due to the rise in prominence of these fields and the unique populations of people who are underrepresented within these fields. Scholars have identified various experiences or constructs (e.g., bias) that suggest that STEM environments may not be particularly welcoming or supportive for racially and ethnically underrepresented minorities (URMs). The transitional stage of being a postdoctoral scholar in combination with high work demands and a “chilly” or unsupportive work environment may contribute to work-family conflict among racially and ethnically URM postdoctoral scholars in STEM, which could contribute to the underrepresentation of racially and ethnically URMs in the STEM fields and/or the premature exit of these postdoctoral scholars from STEM fields. </p><p>Using role congruity perspective (Diekman & Eagly, 2008), I examined the function of goal endorsement (communal or agentic) as a possible cultural moderator in the indirect relationship between work demand and work-family conflict. This study formulated and empirically tested the relationships between work demand, perceived work environment, goal endorsement (communal or agentic), work-family conflict, and satisfaction with work-family balance. Two models were examined to differentiate two different aspects perceived work environment: (a) one using a supportive work environment variable as a mediator of the relationship between perceived work demand and work-family conflict, and (b) one using a hostile work environment variable as a mediator of the relationship between perceived work demand and work-family conflict. Hypotheses regarding the moderating role of a communal goal orientation and an agentic goal orientation in the indirect relationship between work demand and work-family conflict across the two models (supportive work environment and hostile work environment) were assessed. </p><p>Data was collected from 282 racially and ethnically underrepresented minority postdoctoral scholars in the STEM fields enrolled in postdoctoral positions at universities through an online survey. Using structural equation modeling, results revealed that the indirect effect between work demand and work-family conflict was significant and strongest at low levels of a communal goal endorsement and the indirect effect gradually became weaker until it was nonsignificant as racially and ethnically URM postdoctoral scholars’ communal goal endorsement increased. The results suggest that in the face of microaggressions in the workplace, racially and ethnically URM postdoctoral scholars’ high value of communion serves as a protective factor, which reduces the indirect effect of work demand on work-family conflict.Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are presented alongside implications for counseling practice.</p>

[pt] Este trabalho investiga, sob a perspectiva do encontro de serviço, como os alunos de baixa renda - bolsistas - lidam com as diferenças e os preconceitos vividos em um ambiente acadêmico de elite. Encontro de serviço é um conceito que tem origem e importância no marketing de serviços e que trás para este trabalho o papel dos alunos como consumidores de um serviço. O trabalho, de cunho prático, introduz no encontro de serviços o que alguns autores, particularmente Sue et al. (2010), chamam de microagressões. Estuda as estratégias de enfrentamento diante das diferenças socioeconômicas e culturais e o modo como lidam com o preconceito. Foram realizadas várias entrevistas com alunos de último período de graduação de universidade privada para identificar os principais temas ligados às dificuldades de integração e de adaptação. Os resultados indicam que a agressão ocorre de forma sutil, velada e indireta e, em muitos casos, o autor sequer tem a consciência de que comete uma ação de discriminação. Após essa etapa, as principais questões foram levantadas e classificadas segundo o tipo de microagressão, seguindo o modelo de análise de Sue et al. (2010), com o objetivo de compreender o nível de consciência de quem pratica a ação, seja ele professor, aluno ou funcionário e o grau de prejuízo causado a esse grupo de consumidores. As principais questões encontradas, como exclusão e isolamento mostram a necessidade de pensar medidas gerenciais que busquem atender as necessidades deste grupo de consumidores em desvantagem, em relação aos demais. Neste sentido, este trabalho pode auxiliar as universidades e seus gestores no entendimento dos preconceitos vividos por esses consumidores e nas possibilidades de solução. / [en] This work investigates how low-income students handle prejudices in a university elite environment. To that end, it adopts two standpoints. First, it supports the perspective of the service encounter as an underlying concept for the role of students as consumers. Second, it introduces the concept of microaggressions (SUE et al, 2010) to the academic scene of service s marketing. This study also acknowledges the socioeconomic and cultural differences of students as the primary cause of the aggressions. Because of this, the study has a particular concern with how students deal with prejudice. Accordingly, it focuses on the coping strategies students adopt in the face of discrimination. This study results from several interviews with undergraduate students to identify the difficulties of integration and adaptation. The findings indicate that aggressions occur in a subtle, veiled and indirect way. In many cases, even the perpetrator is unaware of the discrimination action. Finally, the work presents a classification of microaggressions following the model of Sue et al. (2010). This model addresses two central issues. The first is the level of awareness of who does the action, be it teacher, student or employee. The other is the degree of damage caused to the consumers. Equally important is to add here the concerns with isolation and exclusion. All these questions require proper managerial attention.

The Civil Rights Act was enacted more than 5 decades ago, and its provisions forbade discrimination on the basis of race in hiring, promoting, and firing. Yet some researchers argue that racial discrimination issues are still prevalent in the United States. They contend that modern racial discrimination is more covert and takes the form of racial microaggressions, which are subtle conscious or unconscious insults and derogatory attitudes directed towards minorities. Researchers have not fully addressed the prevalence of racial microaggressions in U.S. workplaces, however. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of naturalized African-Americans regarding racial microaggressions in U.S. federal agencies. The research problem was examined through the lens of critical race theory. Ten participants from the Social Security Administration were selected using snowball sampling. Data were collected through semi structured phone interviews and then examined using thematic content analysis to identity key concepts and develop a coding structure, from which 9 themes emerged. Findings revealed that participants experienced racial microaggressions in the form of bias, prejudice, false assumptions, nepotism, favoritism, and unfair denial of opportunities for promotion and professional development while at work, which affected their morale and productivity. This study may contribute to positive social change by helping leaders of U.S. federal agencies to understand their multicultural and diverse workforce and work environment. U.S. government officials could also use this study as a basis for policy decisions that may improve racial relations in U.S. federal agencies.

In the wake of increasing community disasters such as hurricanes, neighborhood violence, and terrorist attacks, schools are usually deemed places where youth can find safety and stability. Research about community trauma related to the role of teachers and schools has predominantly focused on younger populations, concerned about disturbances in their developmental processes. School teachers' responsibilities related to these community disasters have also increased and now include supporting their traumatized students. However, there has been limited attention on the direct effect of community traumas on the teachers who work and live in affected districts. The construct of shared trauma describes this duality of roles. For African American teachers, racial trauma plays a role in their everyday lives and might affect their behaviors and responses to tragic events. Critical race theory and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory formed the framework for this phenomenological study, which explored the experiences of 6 female African American teachers who had experienced community disasters. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews, which were transcribed and analyzed using an enhanced version of the Colaizzi 7-step analysis method. Key findings were that race played only a limited role for the teachers when significant traumas occurred in their communities. Also, the experiences they described were indicative of vicarious trauma, which is inconsistent with the construct of shared trauma. This study contributes to social change by informing educational, political, and social institutions about the needs of teachers in the wake of community disasters and how those needs could be conceptualized as vicarious trauma for purposes of planning preventive and concurrent interventions for teachers.

Objektifiering är en av de vanligaste formerna av diskriminering mot kvinnor. Befintlig forskning inom ämnet är övervägande kvantitativ och har i huvudsak genomförts på vita kvinnor i en nordamerikansk kontext. Syftet med föreliggande studie var därför att undersöka svarta kvinnors upplevelser av objektifiering i Sverige. Sju semistrukturerade intervjuer genomfördes och analyserades genom tematisk analys. Resultatet utmynnade i tre teman: Objektifierad – hur, var, av vem?, Att vara ett objekt och Motståndskraft. Studiens resultat visade att deltagarnas erfarenheter har skett mot bakgrund av patriarkala samhälleliga strukturer i kombination med stereotypa föreställningar och fördomar om svarta kvinnor. Den vanligast förekommande formen av objektifiering var att få utseendet granskat och utvärderat genom blickar, kommentarer eller fysisk beröring utifrån fysiska attribut som är stereotypt kännetecknande för svarta kvinnor. Deltagarna beskrev att deras erfarenheter bland annat har resulterat i en ökad vaksamhet, kroppsupptagenhet samt påverkade och förändrade relationer. Slutligen nämndes strategier för hur deltagarna hanterade de påfrestningar som objektifiering innebar. Studien understryker vikten av ökad kunskap i samhället avseende vilka faktorer som möjliggör objektifiering av svarta kvinnor. / Objectification is one of the most common forms of discrimination towards women. Contemporary research in the subject is predominantly quantitative and has mostly been done on white women in a North American context. The aim of this study was therefore to examine black women’s experiences of objectification in Sweden. Seven semi-structured interviews were performed and analyzed through thematic analysis. The result ensued in three themes: Objectification – how, where, by whom?, To be an object and Resistance. The study’s result showed that the participants’ experiences have occurred as a consequence of patriarchal societal structures, combined with stereotypical conceptions and prejudice about black women. The most common form of objectification was having one’s appearance scrutinized and valuated through looks, comments or physical touches of those physical attributes which are stereotypical features of black women. Participants expressed that their experiences have, among other things, resulted in increased watchfulness, bodily consciousness and affected and changed relations. Lastly, the participants described strategies applied to handle the strain caused by objectification. The study emphasizes the importance of increased societal knowledge in regards of which factors enable the objectification of black women.

As with women journalists in other male-dominated fields, female music writers have long endured gendered harassment. In the newsroom, this sexist treatment is foisted upon female music journalists by their male editors and colleagues; in the outside world, it often occurs at the hands of male sources, readers, and online trolls. Unfortunately, the victims of such abuse are frequently left to cope with it alone, and many report that their mental health suffers in the process. Some may even ultimately decide to quit pursuing music journalism entirely. These women report wanting to feel more supported within their work environment, as well as through informal means, such as via a network of fellow female writers. Feminist media theory, utilitarianism, and ethics of care will serve as the study's theoretical bases. This research, based on in-depth interviews with women music journalists, suggests that the vast majority of participants had faced sexism and/or gendered harassment during their time as a female music journalist, experiences that left many of them feeling frustrated and devalued. Based on the research, I offer recommendations on how to make the industry more inclusive for women writers.

For racial minority faculty, racism is associated with adverse outcomes, including poor job satisfaction and less motivation, which may lead faculty to leave the teaching profession. It is unknown what relationships, if any, exist among perceived racial microaggression, job satisfaction, and employee motivation among African American (AA) faculty and other faculty of color in colleges and universities in the southeastern United States. Critical race theory provided a framework to investigate the relationship of perceived racial microaggressions toward AA faculty and other faculty of color with motivation and job satisfaction. This study involved a correlational design using multiple linear regressions to determine the relationships between the variables in a sample of 42 AA faculty and other faculty of color. In the multiple linear regression analysis, the predictor variables were 6 microaggression subscales (assumptions of inferiority, second-class citizen and assumption of criminality, microinvalidations, exoticization/assumptions of similarity, environmental microaggressions, and workplace and school micro-aggressions). The outcome variables were employee motivation and job satisfaction. The results of the analysis indicated no significant relationships between perceived level of microaggressions and job satisfaction or between perceived level of microaggressions and employee motivation. To determine possible bivariate relationships, Pearson's correlations were performed. Assumptions of inferiority and microinvalidations were negatively correlated with job satisfaction, which suggests that when examined in isolation, higher assumptions of inferiority and microinvalidations were associated with lower levels of job satisfaction. Implications for positive social change pertain to ways that oppression and racism can be eliminated in colleges and universities.

The experiences of African American women managers in predominantly Black work environments and the implication of these experiences on their ability to lead remains unknown. The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to gain deeper understanding of the leadership experiences of African American women managers employed in predominantly Black work environments. This study was framed by three key concepts: intersectionality of gender and race, intraracial discrimination, and colorism. The trustworthiness of the study's data was supported by employing methodological triangulation of the study's multiple data sources: semistructured interviews with 10 African American women managers as participants, journaling/ reflective field notes, and archival data. Cross case analysis revealed 8 categories that enclose a total of twelve themes: (a) career trajectory of African American woman manager, (b) gender challenges in a predominantly Black enterprise, (c) race challenges in a predominantly Black enterprise, (d) leadership experiences with subordinates informed by gender and race, (e) further career goals as an African American woman manager, (f) colorism in childhood and adolescence, (g) colorism in daily adult experiences, and (h) intraracial discrimination from subordinates based on skin tone. This study is likely to promote social change by sensitizing predominantly Black work environments on issues of equal treatment between gender groups and ways in which an intraracial context influences African American women's management experiences.

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