Still plenty of ground to cover for women, minority equality in workplaces

Women and minorities may feel more included, but they still don't feel like they have a real voice.

It should come as no surprise that straight white men continue to hold all the cards when it comes to decision making. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Despite efforts to improve diversity and inclusion at work, there’s still a lot of work to be done before women and minorities have anything close to equality.

That’s according to Culture Amp’s report “Workplace Diversity, Inclusion and Intersectionality,” which finds that although diversity has led to increased talent pools, new perspectives and innovation, and better performance and profits, there’s a long way to go before many companies achieve anything like equality.

It should come as no surprise that straight white men continue to hold all the cards when it comes to decision making. In fact, 57% of Latinx women and 56% of black women say their views are not taken into account in the decision making process at work, with just 43% of the former and 44% of the latter even feeling comfortable speaking up at work.

But when it comes to white males, 69% say they feel comfortable doing so.

It goes further than that, however, with only 60% of black and Latinx women believing that voicing their opinion won’t actually bring them negative consequences — and just 54% of black women believe they have an equal opportunity to succeed.

It’s not just race, however, with disparities existing among age groups and between the sexes regardless of race. Gen Z is likely to become the most diverse generation yet, especially as the population ages; more straight white men are exiting the workforce today than entering it. But that doesn’t mean that Gen Zers will have an easier time of it at least until the numbers change— not just for their straight white predecessors, but also for Asian men, Latinx men, and LGBTQ+ women entering the workforce.

Parenthood experiences also divide the workforce, with nearly twice as many men with children at work as women—13 percent, compared with 6 percent. When it comes to men and women without children, however, the proportion is nearly equal—21 percent compared with 24 percent.

According to the report, that raises questions about whether women are opting out of motherhood — “the notion that new mothers are opting out of returning to work after giving birth due to a lack of understanding of the differences between men and women in the workforce.”

In addition, motherhood isn’t only a dividing factor between men and women, but also among women of different racial/ethnic backgrounds. Says the report, “a 31-year-old white woman with no children will likely have a very different experience to a 42-year-old black woman with two children.”

Identifying these differences so that they can be acted upon is key to improving both inclusion and diversity at work, but there is much still to be done to achieve progress.

A new webinar today, “Cannabis in the Workplace: Workers’ Comp and Employee Use,” will look at using cannabis to treat workers’ comp injuries and coverage questions for insurers, provide answers for employers on applying drug policies and share insights on impairment.

For a little more clarity on these and other employment-related topics related to marijuana use, join us today, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. ET/11a.m. PT for “Cannabis in the Workplace: Workers’ Comp and Employee Use.” Register for free here

Related