Paying The Price: The Heavy Toll Of Workplace Racism

MLT’s new Voices from the Workplace initiative features an eye-opening collection of personal stories told by hundreds of MLT alumni about their encounters with racism at work. Their comments were gathered as part of a new MLT research study that documented the prevalence and types of racist attitudes, actions, and systems MLT’s alumni – all professionals of color – have experienced. The study also surveyed a national sample of white adults to compare their perceptions of racism at work to the lived experiences of MLT alumni.

The gap between white perception and minority experience is profound and contributes to a playing field that is persistently uneven. As John Rice, MLT’s CEO, noted in the first essay in this series, “Nearly all MLT respondents – 95% – said that they have experienced racism in their current and past workplaces. Yet only two-thirds of white respondents in a national sample perceive racism in their workplaces.” More than one in four white respondents do not believe racism occurs in the workplace.

MLT’s alumni stories underscore the heavy toll that workplace racism takes on the psychological, emotional, and professional well-being of people of color. Relative to their white peers, MLT respondents carry disproportionate burdens. Seventy-eight percent of MLT alumni felt they faced greater scrutiny or requirements in comparison to white colleagues, and 68% felt their mistakes will reflect negatively on other people of color in their organizations.

Feeling that you are always under the microscope, or that any mistake you make will have harmful repercussions for others like you takes its toll. White people enjoy the luxury of not having to worry about such things; they can devote all their bandwidth to doing the best job they can. 

 “I was confident that completing my MBA at a selective institution would provide a level of credibility…that would allow my work to speak for itself. I even went the extra mile to complete two masters programs. Unfortunately, the degree and my competency is not enough to prevent me being second-guessed and even disregarded.” 

“I am starting to believe that realizing the full value of my MBA is not possible given my background as a first-gen Latinx. I put on a good face and keep trying, but I am not getting anywhere.”

These perspectives from MLT alumni, who have secured top credentials and high-trajectory careers, demonstrate that every day, talented people of color are subject to relentless pressures, including a steady drip-drip-drip of implicit and overt biases.

 No matter what they do, or how well they do it, or how hard they try, they are made to feel that they do not belong in their workplaces. Two-thirds of the respondents said they had difficulty finding mentors or sponsors, so their stress is only compounded by having to navigate their career paths and organizational cultures on their own. 

“Even if I made a connection with someone, a white counterpart always seemed to make a stronger more natural connection that outshined mine. It was like I was always two steps behind, even though I was just as or even more capable than them. Eventually I just got tired of trying to catch up.”

“Investment banking is a pretty bespoke apprenticeship business [where] a lot of opportunities at winning deals are predicated on personal networks which tend to be fairly homogenous. White managers need to be conscious of the environments they’re fostering so Black employees feel like that have a fair shake.”

“There are a lot of certifications and degrees we are pushed to achieve, however the reality is that those achievements don’t erase the bias.”

That bias often shows up when people of color are labeled as not being the right “culture fit” for an organization. Recruitment, retention, advancement, and engagement suffer. This nebulous constraint, cultural fit, is used to keep talented people of color from getting in or getting ahead in many organizations. Since most workplaces reflect a majority that is traditionally white and male, it is little wonder that people of color are marginalized, penalized, and seen as a threat to that status quo.   

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