We Were Finalists In a Business Case Competition for Racial Justice: Here Are 3 Insights to Help Corporate America Support its Black Employees

Photo by Markus Spiske

In January, I was part of an incredible 6-person team of women from MIT tasked with helping corporations address racial injustice in their companies. Below is a summary of our most interesting findings.

Last month, Google CEO, Sundar Pichai, met with Historically Black College and University (HBCU) leaders to discuss the disappointing but unsurprising revelation that Human Resource (HR) departments and hiring managers in big tech often discriminate against Black HBCU STEM graduates. Why is this not surprising? Two reasons: 1) Because HBCUs have long been viewed as deficient institutions; and 2) Black STEM professionals in post-secondary programs like engineering are believed to be incapable of handling the rigor of programs at predominantly white institutions (PWIs). HR departments are not immune to believing in these generalizations. However, we found that just below these surface ideas lay many valuable insights — insights that could potentially shift Corporate America’s thinking about Black talent in the workforce.

We’re a team of MIT MBA students who recently competed in the inaugural John R. Lewis Case Competition for Racial Justice as one of six finalist teams from over a hundred initial applicants. As finalists in the competition, our team researched the systemic barriers Black tech professionals face when entering and advancing in the workforce. As students at MIT Sloan, a predominantly white institution (PWI) where these issues need more discussion, we’re sharing our work with a goal to amplify research and scholarship that gets to the heart of ending workplace bias against Black STEM professionals.

Our research confirmed some surprising and some not-so-surprising information about diversity and inclusion in corporate settings. Here are three critical insights from our work on understanding how discrimination impacts Black professionals at each step of the corporate ladder.

1. The “pipeline problem”, an oft-cited explanation for lack of workplace diversity, is contradicted by labor market data.
2. Typically, programs to address Black representation in the workforce are ineffective because they don’t address the structural workplace environment issues such as occupational segregation, which pushes Black professionals out of many technical professions.
3. Corporate America needs to partner with the right subject matter experts, partners, and organizations, like HBCU’s, to adequately address hiring injustice.

Insight 1: The STEM “Talent Pipeline” isn’t the problem

When Corporate America talks about “the talent pipeline” they are often referring to the lack and/or underrepresentation of diverse, in this case, Black professionals across the organization, from entry-level to the C-suite. Our team focused our research efforts on validating the apparent lack of STEM talent among early Black professionals. What we found was surprising.

The “talent pipeline” problem in STEM is a myth.

We reviewed labor data, consulted studies from Harvard Business School, gathered data from executives, HBCU grads, and Black professionals. When we put this information together, we found there are a sufficient number of Black graduates in STEM. For example, in 2018, there were 6,800 new Black computer science degree recipients in the U.S. Despite this, we found a small but consistent gap between the proportion of degree recipients that are Black and the proportion of computer science professionals that are Black. In other words, the underrepresentation of Black professionals in computer science isn’t due to a lack of qualifications, but a lack of professionally-aligned opportunities. Research from this New York Times article not only confirmed this finding but also concluded that Black computer science graduates are the least likely to pursue technical roles after graduation.

Why do qualified Black applicants not pursue professional opportunities that match their training? This brings us to our second insight. We are facing a new form of sanctioned segregation in the workplace — occupational segregation.

Insight 2: Segregation is Happening in STEM Professions

Photo by Brett Sayles

Occupational segregation is a segmented labor market theory, where job assignments are distributed based on a person’s membership to a particular demographic group — typically gender. However, our analysis of BLS data suggests that this is happening along lines of race, too.

This practice creates a representation gap within professions — like computer science.

In our findings regarding Black computer science degree holders, we wondered if occupational segregation was applicable beyond the field — it was. Many companies, through their hiring practices, are deciding which racial groups deserve technical roles and which do not. Conversely, we also found that sometimes self-segregation is initiated by Black professionals as a form of self-preservation and protection from unfriendly work environments.

But don’t make the mistake of calling this imposter syndrome.

Imposter syndrome suggests that a person has convinced themself they don’t belong in a space they are very much entitled to. In the case of Black professionals, we are talking about work environments and cultures that weren’t designed for Black people or with Black professionals in mind. This idea also applies to how we think about gender identity, (dis) ability and sexual orientation to name a few.

The University of Connecticut Sociologist, Dr. Maya Beasley’s research in “Opting Out: Losing the Potential of America’s Young Black Elite” outlines two key reasons for occupational segregation occurs:

1. Black students often avoid careers in industries they perceive as discriminatory or unwelcome, such as big tech, oil and gas, etc.

2. Decades of occupational and geographic segregation mean that Black students are often locked out of the personal and professional networks their white counterparts use to steer their careers.

Lastly, in our analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics we learned that Black professionals are more likely to be in lower-paying IT support roles than higher-paying engineer roles.

This issue isn’t just limited to the workplace. For some, occupational segregation begins in schools. Black students at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) are more likely to drop out of STEM majors due to “stereotype threat” — that is, the risk of confirming commonly held, negative stereotypes about an individual’s social group, such as the belief that Black students cannot succeed in academically rigorous STEM degrees.

Insight 3: Partners, such as HBCUs, Are Critical Bridge Builders for Black STEM professionals

Photo by Godisable Jacob

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) offer a vital counter-narrative to these systemic issues highlighted in Beasley’s work. While HBCUs represent only 3% of American Universities, they represent 10% of Black undergraduates, 17% of Black bachelor’s degree recipients, and 24% of Black STEM degree recipients. In our focus group with career development counselors at HBCUs, the message was clear: Black talent is out there. Corporate America needs to prove themselves ready and adequately equipped to create welcoming spaces for Black professionals.

Despite the historical bounty of endowment wealth at PWIs (our PWI has the fifth largest endowment in the U.S.), that would suggest PWIs are better equipped to train top talent, HBCUs are arguably the best incubators for Black talent.

One reason we believe HBCUs are incredibly successful in incubating and promoting young Black talent is the network and support they offer to their students. Black students have been shut out of many professional and personal networks that white students use to steer their careers due to decades of occupational and geographic segregation. There is an assumption that skills are what matter when it comes to getting a job. Our survey data found that it was relationships that were important — particularly relationships with managers. When we surveyed nearly 100 Black professionals with 2- or 4-year degrees, we found:

• #1 reason survey respondents left an organization was because of a manager
• 70+% of survey respondents attribute professional success to managerial support
• 50% of survey respondents got their first job through networks and relationships

Decades of systemic oppression have led to occupational and geographic segregation that can make it especially difficult for Black professionals to access broad, influential networks. So managers play a critical role in Black professional advancement.

A 2015 Gallup poll found that “the profoundly different experiences that Black graduates of HBCUs and non-HBCUs are having in college may leave HBCU graduates feeling better prepared for life afterward and potentially leading these two groups to live vastly different lives after college.”

There’s another consequence to not addressing the network gap — non-Black managers and executives who don’t have regular interaction with Black professionals remain unaware of the effects of harmful HR bias. This can inadvertently lead to these leaders becoming unintentionally complicit in the practice of these biased behaviors. When Black professionals are left out of networks in the tech and innovation economy, it isn’t just the professional who’s affected, it’s the hiring organization that misses out on the opportunity to hire a great employee.

So what now?

Our solution: Fix the “Network Gap” at every stage of the Talent Pipeline in Corporations.

Photo by Jenean Newcomb

Google’s CEO was likely shocked to learn that Black job candidates were denied career opportunities because the company’s recruiters undervalued computer science degrees from HBCUs. We imagine that many corporate and HR leaders were similarly surprised by this revelation. However, a quick look at the data confirms that hiring bias has existed just as long as racism in America.

Tackling institutional racism against Black professionals must address bias at every level of a company, from entry-level to the C-suite to corporate boards. We believe it’s time to shift the focus away from the “skills gap” to focus on the relationships gap — or “the network gap”. While the former relies on the assumption that Black people don’t have the skills to do the job, the latter reframes the issue to focus on addressing structural barriers to workplace participation for Black professionals.

3 Simple Ways Leaders Can Address the Network Gap

1. Like and share posts by Black professionals on LinkedIn. This will introduce your network to a new voice.

2. For leaders with direct reports: Build trust by actively checking in. Don’t wait for the climate survey. Asking how your Black employees are feeling regularly (outside of moments of racial injustice) builds trust that is critical for professional growth.

3. For new jobs, consider removing the degree requirement in the job description. This signals to candidates who have experienced occupational segregation that their skills and experience are valuable.

Bonus for a post-COVID world: Invite a Black professional to be your +1 at a dinner, conference, or another notable event, where you can introduce them to a new network.

To confront institutional racism and eliminate bias in Corporate America, executive leaders must let go of the idea that Black talent doesn’t exist — that’s simply not true. Our focus on the talent pipeline phenomenon distracts from the two critical factors most affecting Black STEM professionals’ under-representation in Corporate America: the impact of unfriendly learning and work environments; and the importance of building social capital through meaningful relationships.

Our analysis confirmed that in technical STEM roles, the issue of under-representation isn’t due to a lack of skills, but other factors, such as occupational segregation and a lack of access to professional networks. When CEOs and HR leaders realize this, they can effectively steward their companies towards root cause solutions and cultivating a resilient and inclusive workplace culture that affirms its Black employees.

Thank you to Emory University’s Goizueta Business School for spearheading the inaugural John R. Lewis Case Competition for Racial Equity. Our team is grateful to everyone who helped make it happen, including our sponsor company Southern Company. Check out our presentation along with the other five finalists here. We donated our prize money to Opportunity Hub.

To learn more about our insights or our presentation, find us on LinkedIn:

Toni Morgan | Claudia Moreno | Jordan Dominguez | Lillian Kwang | Lydia Kaprelian | Sarah Kalish