6
Authenticity in the Workplace
An African American Perspective
PATRICIA FAISON HEWLIN and ANNA-MARIA BROOMES
The people I wanted to work with left, and those who stayed are not minority friendly. As a minority, I feel that they don’t want me there. It is so obvious. The head partner doesn’t even speak to me. I try to downplay my cultural differences and laugh at their stupid jokes. I play the game and let them think I believe in the firm’s goals.
—Hewlin, 2009, p. 732
The foregoing quote is from an African American male lawyer who is sharing his experience of working in a firm that does not value diversity. He “plays the game” by suppressing personal views and conveying alignment with the goals of the firm, a behavior termed “creating facades of conformity” (Hewlin, 2003). Facades of conformity are false representations that individuals in organizations create to convey that they embrace the organization’s values (Hewlin, 2003, 2009). In essence, creating a facade is a strategy people use to survive and succeed when they do not feel free to express their true selves at work. Research on facades of conformity resides within scholarly discussions of authenticity, particularly on how authentic self-expression is constrained when one’s personal perspectives (e.g., those related to one’s cultural background) are different or not valued in one’s workplace (Roberts, Cha, Hewlin, & Settles, 2009). Existing findings on facades of conformity highlight the experience of holding a minority status across a combination of personal characteristics, such as gender, race, culture, work experience, and values. In particular, a core finding is that the number of personal characteristics in which one identifies himself or herself as a minority is positively associated with the degree to which one creates facades of conformity, suppressing personal values and pretending to embrace organization values. The theoretical basis of this finding is that a high level of distinctiveness can leave one vulnerable to isolation and stigmatization from majority group members (Brewer, 1981; Kanter, 1977). Moreover, distinctive social categories can lead to feelings of self-consciousness whereby those in the minority feel that they are different or stand out. Such feelings might even lead minorities to overestimate the degree that they are under scrutiny by others (Kramer, 1998). As a result, research suggests that individuals who perceive that they are minorities in their organizations sometimes find it important to manage carefully the extent to which they express divergent points of view to avoid any negative publicity that may be associated with expressing unacceptable values (Dryburgh, 1999; Meyerson, 2001).
Although the research on facades of conformity has shown that minority status can influence inauthentic behavior, this line of research has not addressed nuanced dynamics associated with being a minority in a specific characteristic such as race. Furthermore, there is limited systematic attention to the relative experiences of authentic expression among different racial groups and ethnicities. These omissions limit the degree to which scholars and organizational leaders can comprehensively address factors that hinder authentic self-expression among diverse members. In this chapter, we consider the experience of African Americans in the context of authenticity and personal well-being, with a particular emphasis on the historical roots underpinning this experience. Indeed, the historical foundation of race dynamics in the United States has caused race to be a highly salient factor in social, political, and organizational settings (see Fiske, 2010, for a review), often shaping disparities with respect to promotions, salary, and general treatment (Goldman, Gutek, Stein, & Lewis, 2006), as well as individuals’ sense of belongingness in the workplace (e.g., Dumas, Phillips, & Rothbard, 2013).
In this chapter, we discuss findings from two samples representing a wide set of industries among the general US population. The samples include 2,226 workers and 243 professionals. Our findings show that African Americans engage in inauthentic behavior (i.e., creating facades) more often than those of different racial backgrounds and ethnicities, and that the highest level of facade creation occurs among individuals working in the legal sector. We offer insight on these findings from interviews with African American lawyers who spoke to us about their experiences of juggling authenticity and creating facades of conformity, and the associated consequences. We seek to stimulate future research in this arena while simultaneously challenging the way scholars and business leaders think about leveraging diversity, and promoting authenticity that benefits organizational learning and the personal well-being of employees. Furthermore, our exploratory research on the legal sector offers initial insight on unique industry-related factors that are critical to address when considering organizational practices and tools for building safe environments for authentic self-expression.
Relevant Theory and Empirical Findings
In workplace contexts, authentic self-expression, which is the outward expression of inward experiences such as beliefs and values (e.g., Roberts et al., 2009), is positively associated with employee well-being, satisfaction, positive affect, the perception of meaningful work (Ménard & Brunet, 2011), and work engagement (Hewlin, Kim, & Song, 2016; Van den Bosch & Taris, 2014). However, authenticity can feel restricted when employees perceive that their personal values conflict with organizational values and the values of those in the majority (e.g., Hewlin, 2003). Hewlin (2003) coined the term facades of conformity to illustrate how employees pretend to embrace organizational values that are incongruent with their personal values. Broadly, the term organizational values encompasses espoused organizational values and personal values held by the majority of organization members (Stormer & Devine, 2008). Thus, facades may result from incongruence on organizational values and norms, such as competitiveness versus cooperation and inclusion versus exclusion (e.g., employees of a given racial background are exceeding in their careers at the exclusion of others). In some environments, certain political, cultural, and religious perspectives, as well as values related to sexual orientation and lifestyle choices, may be more favored than others, which can create strong pressures to “blend in” and give the impression of conformity when one does not hold values that are considered most acceptable at work. Accordingly, research has found that facade creation is influenced by work environments that are intolerant to diverse perspectives and values (Hewlin, 2009; Stormer & Devine, 2008).
When employees perceive that they are unable to express themselves authentically at work, there are significantly heightened risks for both the employees and the organizations that they work for. Stormer and Devine (2008) found that facade creation, in the form of pretending to conform in appearance but not in action (e.g., publicly agreeing to a new initiative yet privately refusing to participate), can express itself through veiled sabotage, a concept also known as symbolic covert conflict (Morrill, Zald, & Rao, 2003). Veiled sabotage signifies the subtle acts of noncooperation and resistance toward organizational policies and rules (e.g., daydreaming, taking extended breaks, and malicious gossip) and could partially explain why organizations struggle to implement changes despite apparent employee support.
In light of our focus on the African American experience, we center attention on the finding that minority status is positively related to creating facades of conformity as an initial step to understanding the experience of individuals who bring diverse values to the organization. We argue that the unique, nuanced experiences of African Americans in the workplace will cause them to feel pressured to create facades at higher levels than members of other racial groups. We base our assertion on the historical, deeply ingrained, negative stereotypes about blackness that have been upheld by dominant narratives and have created distinct challenges and consequences for African Americans who dare to express themselves authentically in today’s workplace (Durr & Wingfield, 2011; Hall, Everett, & Hamilton-Mason, 2011; Harlow, 2003; Jackson & Wingfield, 2013; McDowell & Carter-Francique, 2017; Opie & Phillips, 2015; Wingfield, 2007). Notably, pressures to conform to the dominant value system can be traced to the severe punishment of African American slaves for expressing themselves authentically. Epperson (1990) describes how White plantation owners in Virginia imposed European American names on slaves, erasing a significant connection to their African roots and enforcing a permanent reminder of their subservience.
In today’s workplace, African Americans still contend with negative images that shape how they are viewed in the workplace and society at large. For example, Collins (1986) and Wingfield (2007) describe images of Black women as treacherous, hypersexual, aggressive, and ideal for service, and of Black men as dangerous, criminal, and threatening. The burden of discriminatory practices in the workplace may result in African American workers who experience internal and external pressures to present themselves in ways that minimize visible traits connecting them to African American culture (Hall et al., 2011; Jackson & Wingfield, 2013; Opie & Phillips, 2015). This may include chemically relaxing one’s hair to appear more Eurocentric (Opie & Phillips, 2015), assimilating to coworkers’ behaviors (McDowell & Carter-Francique, 2017; Whitfield-Harris & Lockhart, 2016), whitewashing résumés, hiding minority beliefs (Hewlin, 2009), and managing and suppressing emotions related to racism in the workplace (Wingfield, 2007, 2010).
Additionally, research suggests that African American men and women engage in different strategies to minimize and suppress their feelings (Hall et al., 2011; Wingfield, 2007). African American men may try to portray themselves as nonthreatening, cordial, genial, humble, and agreeable, concealing traditionally masculine traits such as arrogance (Jackson & Wingfield, 2013; Wingfield, 2007). Black men studied by Wingfield (2007) discussed experiencing more exclusion and social isolation than Black women and finding fewer outlets to express their feelings. Black women must learn to navigate a professional world in which they are heavily penalized by racism, sexism, and the intersection of the two. Refusals to conform to particular stereotypes may result in Black women being further stereotyped as cold, stuck-up, and humorless (Wingfield, 2007). Black women interviewed by Hall and coauthors (2011) spoke candidly about the emotional and psychological distress of having to deal with scrutiny and the fear of being “branded” if they behaved in any way that might confirm the stereotypical beliefs of their coworkers.
The dual processes of actively not conforming to negative stereotypes about Black people while at the same time trying to conform to organizational values can be emotionally, psychologically, and physically exhausting (Durr & Wingfield, 2011; Hall et al., 2011; Harlow, 2003; Jackson & Wingfield, 2013; McDowell & Carter-Francique, 2017; Wingfield, 2007, 2010). These findings are consistent with outcomes associated with creating facades of conformity, which include emotional exhaustion and reduced work engagement (Hewlin, 2009; Hewlin, Dumas, & Burnett, 2017). In the inaugural study of facades of conformity, emotional exhaustion mediated the relationship between facades of conformity and intention to leave the organization (Hewlin, 2009), suggesting that organizations are at risk of losing talented workers when African Americans do not feel free to express their authentic selves at work.
These historical and contemporary pressures to conform led us to predict that we would see the highest level of facade creation among African American employees. We tested our predictions using cross-sectional, self-report survey data from a larger study on facades of conformity. We also evaluated interview data to shed more insight on our findings.
The Research
The participants were part of a US-based survey response panel run by QualtricsTM. Panel members were working adults paid by QualtricsTM with points they can redeem for merchandise from online merchants. The number of participants who opened the survey invitation were 5,497, and 2,587 of them completed it, representing a 47 percent response rate. A quality review of the completions resulted in a total of 2,226 final respondents. Fifty-six percent were female, and the average age was 39.5 years (SD = 11.1). Twenty industries (including finance, health care, education, and legal services) were represented. The breakdown of race/ethnicity is as follows: Asian (non-Indian) (3.2 percent), Black or African American (22.3 percent), Indian (1 percent), Latin American or Hispanic (5.4 percent), and White (45 percent).
Results
We used the facades of conformity six-item, seven-point scale (1 = never, 7 = all of the time) that evaluates employees’ comfort levels with expressing themselves authentically in the workplace (Hewlin, 2009). Sample items include the following: “I behave in a manner that reflects the organization’s value system even though it is inconsistent with my personal values,” and “I say things I don’t believe at work.” The internal consistency for this scale was .92. To evaluate our prediction that African Americans will engage in the highest level of facade creation, we performed a one-way analysis of variance, which allowed us to compare the means of creating facades among African Americans with the means of participants in other racial groups. Results showed that there was a significant difference of means [F(1, 2201) = 187.68, p = .00] between African American participants (M = 4.90, SD = 1.71) and the means across the participants of other racial groups (M = 3.82, SD = 1.49). Figure 6-1 provides an illustration of the means associated with each race or ethnicity.
Facades of conformity by race and ethnicity
In addition to this finding, the research team explored the possibility of industry effects as they related to facade creation, using a sample of similarly situated participants with respect to education (MBA alumni in two northeastern business schools). Using alumni lists provided by the schools, 500 students were contacted by email and invited to partake in an online survey, and 243 (48 percent) completed the survey. Participants worked in fifteen different industries, with the largest composition in financial services, law, consulting, advertising, and health care. The average age of respondents was thirty-four years (SD = 8.0), and the average organizational tenure was five years (SD = 5.0). The majority of participants were in middle-management positions (76.5 percent). Of the total number of participants, 28 percent identified as non-White, which included 9 percent identifying as African American.
In this second sample, we found that there was a statistically significant difference between industries, as determined by a one-way analysis of variance [F(14, 225) = 1.97, p = .021]. In comparing levels of facade creation across the industries, the legal sector had the highest degree of facade creation (M = 3.04, SD = .67) among respondents of all races, compared with the fourteen other industries, and thus higher than the total mean of participants across all industries (M = 2.60, SD = .70). In light of the wide range of industries in which the respondents were employed, we found it particularly interesting to see this result, which prompted us to explore the lived experience of African Americans and their authentic self-expression in the legal profession, which is part of a larger interview study that aims to understand factors that cause individuals to create facades of conformity in the workplace.1 This data collection was initiated with the MBA alumni participants and continued with referrals to colleagues and other professional contacts in a “snowball” fashion (Robinson, 2014). Out of this set of fifteen respondents, seven were African American lawyers. Although this interview sample is small and exploratory in nature, our initial findings suggest that managing the degree to which one can be authentic at work is a salient and often challenging experience for African Americans in the legal profession.
African Americans in the Legal Sector
In 1868, Macon Bolling Allen became the first licensed African American attorney and the first African American to legally practice law in the United States (Smith, 2000). It was not until 1950 that the Supreme Court of the United States declared it unconstitutional to deny African Americans admission to law schools previously reserved for White students only (Sweatt v. Painter, 1950). Institutional barriers continue to hinder African Americans in their attempts to enter the legal profession (Nussbaumer, 2012; Weatherspoon, 2010). In its 2017 report, the National Association for Law Placement (2017) reported that African Americans represent only 4.28 percent of associates in the United States, a figure that has decreased from 4.66 percent since 2009. Women are 2.42 percent of associates. African Americans account for just 1.8 percent of partners in American law firms.
This considerable underrepresentation in the legal profession is mirrored in other prestigious professions, such as medicine and dentistry, which Nance and Madsen (2014) purport is a reflection of greater societal, educational, and institutional barriers that prevent African Americans from attaining advanced degrees in law. Scholars propose a number of theories to explain African Americans’ restricted entry into the legal profession, such as the mass incarceration of Black males in the United States and the resulting distrust and hostility toward the legal system, unjust law school admission procedures, racial isolation in law school, and a lack of African American role models working in the field (Nussbaumer, 2012; Weatherspoon, 2010). Conley (2006) concluded that outside of progressive, boutique law firms (e.g., Black law firms, Jewish law firms), large firms do not seem to value diversity beyond what is deemed socially acceptable, noting a collective “metaphorical shrug” from elite firms (p. 843). In acknowledgment of this prevailing indifference to diversity issues in the legal sector, we interviewed African Americans who had beaten the odds and completed the long, arduous journey to become lawyers.
Method
We conducted semistructured interviews to generate discussion about our research and provide a platform for African Africans to reflect on their legal careers and express their voices as experts of their own experiences as racial minorities. Rooted in Hewlin’s (2003, 2009) theoretical framework of facades of conformity and drawing from pilot studies on the concept (see Hewlin, 2009; Stormer & Devine, 2008), we constructed an interview protocol to assess the organizational and personal factors that contribute to experiences of both authentic and inauthentic behaviors for Black lawyers working in US law firms in which the partners and associates were predominantly White males. Our interviews lasted approximately forty-five to sixty minutes each, were done over the phone, were tape-recorded, and then were transcribed.
Findings: Relationships, Facades, and the Resolve to Be Authentic
Consistent with research that addresses the difficulty that Black professionals have in developing close professional relationships as a result of different experiences, interests, and cultural values (Dumas et al., 2013; Garth & Sterling, 2009), our respondents discussed this as a core issue in the law firm context. Developing close professional relationships is particularly critical in a law firm environment because relationships create opportunities to join work teams that can lead to visibility and, importantly, billable hours, which generate revenues for the law firm. The following quotes from two of our respondents reflect this issue.
Certain relationships are developed almost seamlessly or innately amongst White attorneys. I see myself almost on the outside or having to work harder just to get into the circle.
When there is a lot of work and everyone is busy, there is not a problem. But it is when there are slow periods when you begin to see how the network works. There are people who are always busy and are kept fed with work. People within my own background, we have a harder time with that, so when it was slow, people within the network get the best deals, and that compounds with time. It is a challenge for us because we have to make an extra effort.… [S]ome connections are just natural, and when you don’t have partners who have the same background as yours, then it is difficult to form those connections.… [Y]ou have to work double time to find common ground … or you are sunk.
In light of the importance of relationships, the pressure to conform and create facades of conformity is salient.
I don’t believe that a Black person can ever truly be authentic in corporate America. I just don’t believe that.
I have certain behaviors that are literally me, but you won’t ever see them in the workplace because I am afraid of being judged. I have adopted the culture and sort of reflect back to them what they reflect as opposed to me projecting my own image.… I think it is kind of a shame because companies are starving for authenticity because that is how they can innovate.
As well, one respondent indicated that he cannot fully be authentic as a result of cultural insensitivity and unawareness: “If you never went to school with Black people, if you’ve never practiced law with Black people, if there’s a dearth of Black attorneys at the law firms you’ve worked at and you’ve never had to report to a Black attorney, there are cultural nuances that you’re so oblivious to.… [Y]ou’ve never ever had to confront your own racial ignorance because it seems perfectly normal. And if I say it the way I want to and need to, … [i]t’s going to make for a very uncomfortable situation … for the rest of the year.”
Is there ever a place for authenticity? We had mixed responses with respect to when participants felt authentic. Authenticity can come from a place of comfort after establishing credibility as an exceptional performer, as one respondent observed: “I had set a foundation of excellence … so that was clear. There was never a question about my ability.… Once you see that, all of your feedback is the same.… I have a proven [track record], … so now they can begin to see parts of me they haven’t seen. I don’t think any of us have that sigh of relief until you get to that point, but it is hard because some of us never fully get to that point [of establishing one’s credibility] to be authentic … then you never get to be authentic.”
We also found that authenticity, when displayed, might hinder one’s career progress. This respondent sought and obtained a position more suitable to her desire to exude authenticity in the workplace: “I try to be true to myself the best I can, but maybe that was the problem. I did not do a good job at playing the game, and in fact, it cost me. I believe that is why I did not progress at [the firm] … which was very clubish.… It is different in my new job.… I still say that it is better to be your authentic self because it is already hard enough … and you are probably not in the right environment. Black culture is not a secret.… I believe people will gravitate to you more if you are authentic.”
Finally, the choice to be authentic can come from a place of “having enough” of feeling scrutinized and singled out as a Black person.
Being Black is a moving target. When I was somewhat younger … I was acutely aware of no matter where I went, no matter what I did, what were my achievements, I always knew that everyone was looking at me as the Black guy. Obviously, I always knew I was Black, but I knew that other people were looking at me that way.… I think through my life … probably early on … I got to the point where that’s your problem, not mine so you can, whatever your reaction to me is, knock yourself out. I’m not going to let that bother me anymore and it’s going to be your problem, not my problem. And that being, if blackness was going to be a problem, it was going to be someone else’s problem, not my problem. So, I would spend a lot of time saying, well thinking, and pursuing that I am a very skilled trial lawyer, and it doesn’t matter who you are on the other end, you’re going to get hell.
Discussion and Recommendations
Our findings among a general population of workers in the United States show that African Americans engage in inauthentic behavior (i.e., creating facades) more often than workers of different racial backgrounds. This finding confirms and highlights the ongoing sense of duality or “double consciousness” that African Americans have experienced in and outside the workplace for decades (e.g., Du Bois, 1903). Whereas some have been successful to find professions and work contexts that promote and appreciate diverse perspectives and values, as a community, being Black in the workplace comes with unique and salient pressures to conform to dominant norms and values. Our qualitative findings from an initial sample of professionals illustrate that this is particularly the case in the legal profession, in which building relationships with partners and clients is critical to one’s success, as is noted by our interview respondents. Continued qualitative and quantitative research in this arena will help to identify specific trends in how African Americans manage their sense of authenticity in the legal profession.
Given that emotional and psychological strain, along with reduced levels of work engagement and organizational commitment, is associated with suppressing one’s true self in the workplace (e.g., Hewlin, 2009; Hewlin et al., 2016; Hewlin et al., 2017), it is critical that future research focuses on ways that organizations can employ practices that not only promote authenticity but also integrate sensitivity to historical, entrenched barriers to authenticity for African Americans and members of other underrepresented groups. This should be done by paying particular attention to certain industries, such as the legal profession and other client-driven professions, in which conformity and professional relationships are particularly crucial to one’s career success. Specifically, we recommend that organizational practices for promoting authenticity and diversity be a part of a holistic effort to create a learning environment (Argyris & Schön, 1996). A core component of an organizational learning environment is psychological safety, which encourages a shared belief that a team or the organization is safe for interpersonal risk-taking such as expressing divergent values and points of view (Edmondson, 1999). Psychological safety begins with top-down leadership communications and actions, such as formal and informal open discussions where all members are free to share ideas and address issues without fear of recourse. This will likely require leadership training and long-term coaching partnerships with professionals who can help guide the organization to a place of psychological safety and well-being. We emphasize again that sensitivity to the unique experiences of underrepresented groups must be integrated into such efforts. As well noted by Opie and Freeman (2017), encouraging authenticity in the context of organizational norms that are infused with bias will not render authentic self-expression among those who are traditionally the recipients of that bias in their daily interactions at work. Thus, efforts to promote authenticity will necessitate a reevaluation of organizational values that systemically promote bias, and the establishment of new ones that liberate diverse, authentic self-expression among all employees.
NOTES
1. The research team is conducting ongoing research that explores the dynamics of authenticity and creating facades of conformity in multiple industries and cultures.
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