Smith, A. N., Watkins, M. B., Ladge, J. J., & Carlton, P. (2018). Interviews with 59 black female
executives explore intersectionality invisibility and strategies to overcome it.
“Black women continue to be sorely underrepresented in leadership
roles in corporate America. Currently, they make up 12.7% of the U.S.
population, yet they represent only 1.3% of senior management and
executive roles of S&P 500 firms, 2.2% of Fortune 500 boards of
directors, and in a post-Ursula Burns world, there is not a single black
female CEO in the Fortune 500”, (Smith et al, 2018, p.2).
As of today, we have two Black female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies: Rosalind Brewer of Walgreen’s Boots Alliance and Thasunda Brown Duckett of TIAA. While we have made strides since this article was published, the disparities still exist.
The authors focused on the intersectionality that Black women experience. According to Smith et al (2018), “There is an ironic complexity to these women’s experiences: they feel physically visible, yet cognitively invisible” (p. 3). Black women must deal with invisibility and hypervisibility in the workplace on a regular basis. They often struggle to find mentors and sponsors in their fields and network with colleagues due to unconscious bias. Members of the dominant culture may exclude Black women from social events and career development opportunities simply because they don’t see them. Hypervisibility happens when members of the dominant culture focus on every single action a Black woman makes throughout her day.
Smith et al (2018) posed the “glass cliff” theory to the women they interviewed. “Prior research suggests that women and minorities are often tested in leadership roles by being disproportionately given risky or precarious assignments, a phenomenon referred to as the “glass cliff”, (p. 5). When senior leaders place Black women in difficult leadership roles, some part of them may expect a white leader to save the day when she fails. However, the Black women in this study embraced the glass cliff as “…strategic opportunities to overcome their invisible outsider status and prove their worth as viable leaders”, (Smith et al, 2018, p. 5). They turned negative situations into career defining moments.
L2: Demonstrate the ability to assess complex organizational environments and achieve communicative goals.
L4: Apply communication-centered scholarship to strengthen communication effectiveness.
D1: Iteratively develop inter-professional leadership competencies.
D4: Be equipped to influence change.
Keywords: women of color, Black women leaders, leadership opportunities, management advancement, sponsorship, mentorship
