PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 22, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Today,
August 22, is Black Women's Equal Pay
Day, which marks how far Black women had to work into 2019 to make
what white men earned in 2018 alone. For a second year, LeanIn.Org
and SurveyMonkey have partnered to conduct new research to measure
Americans' awareness of this pay gap and better understand the
experiences of Black women in the workplace, using SurveyMonkey
Audience. The results are clear and troubling: Black women face far
more barriers to advancement, and only half of Americans think
these obstacles still exist.
On average, Black women are paid 39 percent less than white men
and 21 percent less than white women. Even when you control for
industry, occupation and education, Black women on average are paid
less than white men. According to the National Partnership for
Women and Families, if the pay gap were closed, in a single year, a
Black woman working full-time would be able to afford over three
years' worth of groceries, nearly two years of rent, or two and a
half years' worth of childcare.
The new research from LeanIn.Org and SurveyMonkey shows that
many people don't know Black women are paid less or don't
understand the magnitude of this pay gap. A third of Americans
don't know there's a pay gap between Black women and white men—and
42 percent of people who are aware of this pay gap underestimate
its size. Moreover, half of Americans don't know there's a pay gap
between Black women and white women.
"While many Americans don't realize the pay gap for Black women
exists, Black women and their families certainly feel the effects.
If the pay gap were closed, the average Black woman would earn
almost $950,000 more over the course
of her career—a staggering figure, especially when you consider
nearly 4 in 10 Americans say they'd struggle to cover an unexpected
$400 expense," said Rachel Thomas, co-founder and CEO of
LeanIn.Org.
"Just like last year, our research shows that awareness about
the pay gap for Black women remains too low," said Sarah Cho, Director of Research at SurveyMonkey.
"We're also seeing that Black women have far less access to
opportunity in the form of job training and interactions with
senior leaders. We hope this research encourages companies to dig
deeper into the interconnected factors that contribute to this
disparity so we can all make progress in narrowing the gap."
The pay gap Black women face is only one piece of the story.
This new research highlights that Black women also experience a
lack of access to opportunity:
- Less access to senior leaders: White men report having
access to senior leaders at three times the rate of Black women—and
white women at twice the rate of Black women.
- Less mentorship and sponsorship: Fewer Black women have
had a mentor or sponsor at some point in their career: 19 percent,
compared to 27 percent of white women and 31 percent of white
men.
- Less access to training: Fewer Black women have ever
received job or executive leadership training in their career: 19
percent, compared to 30 percent of white women and 33 percent of
white men.
These findings are also supported by research from LeanIn.Org
and McKinsey & Company's Women in the Workplace study, which
shows that Black women face more barriers to advancement and get
less support:
- Less likely to be promoted: Despite doing their part and
asking for raises as often as men and white women, Black women are
less likely to be promoted. For every 100 men promoted to manager,
only 60 Black women are promoted.
- Less support from managers: Only 25 percent of Black
women report that their manager helps them navigate organizational
politics, compared to 39 percent of white women and 41 percent of
men. Black women are also less likely to get help balancing their
work and personal lives (39 percent of Black women, compared to 48
percent of white women and 44 percent of men).
- Less likely for managers to promote their
accomplishments: 35 percent of Black women say that their
managers promote their contributions to others, compared to 46
percent of white women and 46 percent of men. Black women are also
less likely to get opportunities to showcase their work.
- Experience everyday discrimination/microaggressions: 40
percent of Black women report having their judgment questioned in
their area of expertise, compared to 36 percent of white women and
27 percent of men. And 42 percent of Black women are asked to
provide evidence of their competence, compared to 29 percent of
white women and 16 percent of men.
In this year's SurveyMonkey and LeanIn.Org study, over a third
of Americans said they believe offering leadership training,
increasing wage transparency, and creating flexible workplace
policies are effective ways to provide opportunities to help women
and men advance equally. To address obstacles that can contribute
to the pay gap and prevent Black women from advancing, LeanIn.Org
is issuing a series of recommendations for companies based on
findings from Women in the Workplace:
Put processes in place to ensure that employees doing the
same work are being paid the same
- Don't ask job candidates about their current compensation,
which is illegal in some states and can perpetuate pay
disparities
- Be transparent about the pay ranges for different roles so all
employees know what to expect
- Audit compensation data regularly to maintain fairness—and
review the data by gender and race to ensure Black women are being
paid fairly
Ensure the performance review process is fair
- Require diverse slates of candidates for promotions (only 26%
of companies currently do this)
- Set clear performance evaluation criteria before the review
process begins—and put safeguards in place to make sure they're
applied consistently
- Track outcomes of promotions by gender and race to make sure
Black women are being treated fairly (only 18% of companies
currently do this)
Train employees to identify and challenge bias
- Less than a third of employees say managers often challenge
biased language and behavior when they see or hear it. Unconscious
bias training can equip managers to be part of the solution (less
than 50% of managers currently receive it)
- Employees involved in hiring and promotions should receive
unconscious bias training to help them make more objective
decisions (less than 20% of companies require unconscious bias
training for employees involved in hiring and promotions)
- Lean In's 50 Ways to Fight Bias program highlights 50 specific
examples of workplace bias and offers research-backed
recommendations for what to do (available at no cost to
companies)
Double down on mentorship, sponsorship, and leadership
training
- Ensure formal mentorship and sponsorship programs are opening
doors for Black women
- Encourage informal interactions between Black women and more
senior colleagues—these types of personal connections can be more
effective than formal programs and propel careers
- Track participation in leadership training by gender and race
to make sure Black women are fairly represented
At leanin.org/bwepd, visitors can find the full findings, as
well as resources to combat gender bias in the workplace. To learn
more about the study, visit the SurveyMonkey blog.
KEY FINDINGS FROM 2019 BLACK WOMEN'S EQUAL PAY SURVEY CONDUCTED
BY LEANIN.ORG AND SURVEYMONKEY:
Many people don't realize that Black women are paid less for
similar work. A third of Americans (34%) don't know that Black
women, on average, are paid less than white men—and half of
Americans (53%) don't know that Black women, on average, are paid
less than white women.
Even when people know there's a pay gap, it's bigger than
they realize. A Black woman makes 61 cents for every dollar a white man makes. Even
when people know the pay gap exists, 42% of them underestimate its
size.
Black women's awareness of the pay gap is higher, and many
see wage transparency as key to workplace equity. 69% of Black
women are aware that white men, on average, are paid more than
them. When asked what companies can do to provide equal
opportunities for advancement for men and women alike, 40% of Black
women selected wage transparency as their top solution..
The pay gap is only part of the problem. Black women get far
less support at work. Compared to white men, Black women
are significantly less likely to have ever received job or
executive leadership training (white men: 33%, Black women: 19%)
and to have had a mentor or sponsor at some point in their career
(white men: 31%, Black women: 19% ). Most notably, Black women are
almost three times less likely to have ever had access to senior
leaders (white men: 44%, Black women: 16%). A similar disparity
holds when you compare Black women to white women—in all cases,
Black women get less support.
Most people are overly optimistic about the state of Black
women. Only half of Americans (51%) think there are still
obstacles that make it harder for Black women to advance. Not
surprisingly, more than two-thirds of Black women (71%) say
significant obstacles still exist.
About LeanIn.Org
An initiative of the Sheryl Sandberg
& Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, LeanIn.Org works to help
women achieve their ambitions and create a more equal world.
LeanIn.Org offers inspiration and support through an online
community, free education materials, and Lean In Circles, small
groups of peers who meet regularly to learn and grow together. The
Lean In community includes more than two million women and men and
43,000 Lean In Circles in 172 countries. The Sheryl Sandberg &
Dave Goldberg Family Foundation, which also runs OptionB.Org, is a
private operating nonprofit organization under IRS section
501(c)(3).
Contact: press@leanin.org
About SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey is a leading global
survey software company on a mission to power the curious. The
company's People Powered Data platform empowers over 17 million
active users to measure and understand feedback from employees,
customers, website and app users, and the market. SurveyMonkey's
products, enterprise solutions and integrations enable 335,000+
organizations to solve daily challenges, from delivering better
customer experiences to increasing employee retention. With
SurveyMonkey, organizations around the world can transform feedback
into business intelligence that drives growth and innovation.
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SOURCE LeanIn.Org