A new study by professors at the University of Colorado–Boulder showed that women and people of color who demonstrated what the authors call “strong diversity-valuing behavior” (i.e. commitment to racial and gender diversity at their company) received lower performance ratings than white men who were perceived as exhibiting diversity-valuing behaviors.
The study queried the bosses and peers of 362 executives asking them to rate them on performance, warmth, competence, and “diversity-valuing behavior”.
The results showed that women who promote other women were rated as “less warm” than white men who did the same and executives of color who were perceived as exhibiting diversity-valuing behavior were more likely to be rated as “incompetent”.
The authors speculate that women and people of color who support diversity are viewed as self-serving by trying to advance the status of their own group.
I am to glad that this research was conducted. This phenomenon is well known by many of us in the field but heretofore the evidence was only qualitative and anecdotal.
I personally have experienced this issue a number of times in my business career. I have been told by potential clients of color that they would not be able to hire The Winters Group even though they believed we offered the best solution because of how it would look to their executives. They felt that they had to hire a firm led by a white person because they would be under more scrutiny and there would be more questions about the motive to hire The Winters Group.
Executives of color and women continue to be under the microscope, with every action being analyzed by others with a gender or color lens, whether consciously or not. If a woman promotes another woman or a person of color promotes another person of color, the “motive” question is also lurking around whether stated or not. When a white man promotes another white man, there are no perceptions that the decision may have been selfish or self-serving.
By bringing the issue to the fore with solid research, I am hopeful that we can alleviate these stereotypes and perceptions so that women and leaders of color are more accurately evaluated and that they do not feel that it is so risky to support and promote their own.
