I once read an article on workload discrimination and one of the lines mentioned by the author has stayed with me since then. This is why, today, I decided to write a complete article of my own. The author was talking about unequal workload discrimination among people of color and mentioned that how if your manager or boss thinks that African American women aren’t educated enough, motivated enough, or do not have the client presentation skills, no amount of hard work will be able to change that. The problem here isn’t that you are not working hard. The real issues are the biases and stereotypes ingrained against Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC).
In my years of working with women of color, I have noticed that sometimes the discrimination is so bone-deep that women start thinking it is their fault for not working up to the expectations. The real issue here isn’t talent but unequal workload discrimination.
Let’s talk about what it is and what you can or cannot do to tackle it:
Doing The ‘Office Housework’
A study by Harvard Business Review claims that women of color are asked to do office housework more than glamor work. The former means all the behind-the-scenes tasks that keep the ball rolling but do not have direct visibility. On the other hand, glamor work is where people are often able to build a name for themselves, get promotions, and make career advancements. In easy terms, preparing documents and presentations can be the office housework whereas giving those presentations to get the client is glamor work. And it comes as no surprise that whoever is at the front-end seldom admits not having worked on the back end.
Another HBR study encouraged the managers to assign work equally because the usual ‘superstars’ of their team were hogging the glamor work whereas BIPOC women were behind-the-scenes. I have noticed black women taking more housework so they are noticed, but they never are. You will leave yourself tired and stressed without getting any recognition till you work on the needle-moving tasks.
Data Is Your Best friend!
Often when a BIPOC employee raises their voices against unequal workload discrimination, it is termed as being aggressive. This is because most of the gaslighting come in the form of subtle actions. They generally include taking away the credit, not being appreciated, and unfair task distribution, etc. This means that you cannot pinpoint the exact place where you weren’t handed an appropriate task or where your colleague took the credit for the work you did. The microaggressions are tricky to address.
To deal with it and to get the fair work you deserve, use the data to substantiate your claims. Start documenting the number of times you did the work and someone else took the credit. Note every housework assigned that does not suit your job description or qualifications. If possible, note instances where your colleague was asked to do the glamour work while you were told to do the exact opposite. When you set out to voice your grievances against this work discrimination you are facing, believe me, this proof, data & reports will be your saving grace. When the response is “be a team player,” you can agree and tell them it’s time for the other player to warm the bench while you’re in the forward position.
Stop ‘Volunteering’!
People of color, especially black women, are told while growing up that they must work twice as hard to be half as successful as their white counterparts. This mindset is so deeply embedded that even when they should not, black women volunteer for tasks in the pretense of volunteering or helping. Women of color are fighting discrimination and negative stereotypes every day which means that in order to get noticed they generally volunteer for work they have no energy or time for seems the right thing to do. But it is not. Hold the urge back to do tasks that are not yours because they turn out to be professional traps. Work with your manager to set up a system that distributes the tasks fairly. You should not allow yourself to be pigeonholed into busywork forever.
Set Boundaries
For women of color, it is hard to set and protect their boundaries. If they do not respond to calls or emails outside of work, they are deemed unmotivated, lazy, or not working hard. This isn’t professional behavior. Work should not intrude in your personal life. Not just this, but when you are working on a task that’s already taking all your time, being handed over with another should not be an option. Thus, you must learn how to set and manage your boundaries. Be explicit in telling your employers that you are already doing XYZ work and the new one might set you back ABC hours on that project. Or you can just as easily, say that the task handed over to you isn’t something you were hired to do.
Calling out bias and discrimination is not always the most viable solution. Unfortunately, it only works when you have psychological safety. You can always point out that there is a certain housework task only you are assigned among many other employees. Or if the situation is reversed, you can mention how only certain employees give presentations and you do not.
“As an employee of color, start owning up to tasks that you are doing whether they are glamorous or housework. If your manager isn’t noting the difference in assignments, start making a list and get credit for the work you are doing. Be clear on taking the credit and compensation, because if you don’t nobody else will give it to you.”
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