Black and White Professional-Managerial Women's Perceptions of Racism and Sexism in the Workplace

Weber, Lynn; Higginbotham, Elizabeth

doi:10.4135/9781483327020.n7

Cited by 20 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…Similar to other studies (Bacchus, 2008;Hughes & Dodge, 1997;HamiltonMason et al, 2009;Jones & Shorter-Gooden, 2003;Weber & Higginbotham, 1997), we found that members of the sample rely heavily on prayer and church attendance to manage and cope with stress. For example, one respondent said, "I'm just trying to pray on it.…”

Section: Racism and Sexism As Stressors In The Workplacesupporting

confidence: 90%

Black Women Talk About Workplace Stress and How They Cope

Hall

Everett

Hamilton-Mason

2011

Journal of Black Studies

133

109

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Black women face the same struggles as White women; however, they have to face issues of diversity on top of inequality. The purpose of this study was to explore work-related stressors that affect the lives of Black women and how they cope with them. Using an exploratory design with grounded-theory methods, five basic themes emerged that identify when racism and sexism are experienced as stressors for African American women in the workplace. The themes are: (1) being hired or promoted in the workplace, (2) defending one’s race and lack of mentorship, (3) shifting or code switching to overcome barriers to employment, (4) coping with racism and discrimination, and (5) being isolated and/or excluded. The results from this study indicate African American women use emotion- and problem-focused coping responses to manage stress (e.g., racism and sexism) in the workplace. The article concludes with a discussion of practice implications of these findings.

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Section: Racism and Sexism As Stressors In The Workplacesupporting

confidence: 90%

Black Women Talk About Workplace Stress and How They Cope

Hall

Everett

Hamilton-Mason

2011

Journal of Black Studies

133

109

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“…This hypothesis assumes that perceptions of ethnic and gender discrimination each make significant contributions to overall expectations of general discrimination. That is, if women perceive more gender discrimination than men, and people of color perceive more ethnic discrimination than Whites, then women of color should expect to experience the most discrimination overall if these two bases of perceived discrimination both contribute to overall expectations that one will be treated unfairly (Coleman, Jussim, & Isaac, 1991;Weber & Higginbotham, 1997).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

Perceived Discrimination in the Context of Multiple Group Memberships

et al. 2002

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This study examined the joint impact of gender and ethnicity on expectations of general discrimination against oneself and one's group. According to the double-jeopardy hypothesis, women of color will expect to experience more general discrimination than men of color, White women, and White men because they belong to both a low-status ethnic group and a low-status gender group. Alternatively, the ethnic-prominence hypothesis predicts that ethnic-minority women will not differ from ethnic-minority men in their expectations of general discrimination because these expectations will be influenced more by perceptions of ethnic discrimination, which they share with men of color, than by perceptions of gender discrimination. All results were consistent with the ethnic-prominence hypothesis rather than the double-jeopardy hypothesis.

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“…Sociologists Lynn Weber and Elizabeth Higginbotham have also collaborated on several projects that reaffirm these findings. In various studies that examine black and white professional women, these authors find not only that black women are more likely to perceive and confront racial discrimination in the workplace, more notably, they are also more likely than their white peers to identify issues of sexism (Higginbotham and Weber 1999;Weber and Higginbotham 1997). However, black women generally cannot count on their white female counterparts to identify and ⁄ or speak out against issues related to racial discrimination.…”

Section: Intersectional Approaches To the Sociology Of Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, black women generally cannot count on their white female counterparts to identify and ⁄ or speak out against issues related to racial discrimination. Again, by pointing out the differences in black and white women's experiences in professional positions, Weber and Higginbotham (1997) show how race and gender work together to construct black women's occupational positions such that they are more attuned than their white female peers to issues of racial and gender inequality that surface at work. This work lends particular credence to the rationale behind intersectional approaches, as it shows that for black professional women, they do not prioritize or notice only the issues of race that some researchers (particularly race scholars who do not use an intersectional approach) might consider to be more important.…”

Section: Intersectional Approaches To the Sociology Of Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Understudied Case of Black Professional Men: Advocating an Intersectional Approach

Wingfield

Alston

2012

Sociology Compass

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This paper considers potential new areas for sociology of work research. Specifically, we review some key studies in the sociology of work that identify the processes by which workplaces and labor markets recreate racial and gendered inequality. We then examine the ways that intersectionality theory has generated additional insights into how certain groups are disadvantaged at work. Finally, we make the case that using an intersectional approach to explore the occupational challenges, opportunities, and issues facing black professional men offers a new and important direction for research in the sociology of work.

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Black and White Professional-Managerial Women's Perceptions of Racism and Sexism in the Workplace

Cited by 20 publications

References 0 publications

Black Women Talk About Workplace Stress and How They Cope

Black Women Talk About Workplace Stress and How They Cope

Perceived Discrimination in the Context of Multiple Group Memberships

The Understudied Case of Black Professional Men: Advocating an Intersectional Approach

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