Status of Black Leadership Today

Black leadership has been severely underrepresented across several domains within the United States, including the workplace, education, and government. White and Black employees make up 78 percent and 12 percent of the overall labor force within the United States, respectively. However, Whites make up 84 percent of all management occupations, while only 7.5 percent of these managers are Black (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016). The Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that this disparity becomes even greater at the executive level, where 88 percent of all CEOs are White and 3 percent are Black. As of 2017, less than 1 percent of all Fortune 500 CEOs are Black. More specifically, there are only four Black male CEOs and no Black female CEOs in the Fortune 500 (McGirt, 2017). In fact, there have only been fifteen Black CEOs during the Fortune 500’s life-span of sixty-two years, only one of whom was a woman. Black leaders below the top level do not fare much better, as Black men and women form approximately 4.7 percent of executive team members in the Fortune 100 and 6.7 percent of the 16.2 million managerial-level jobs (McGirt, 2016). Not surprisingly, only about 10 percent of businesses are owned by Black men and women (McManus, 2016), some of whom may have opted for entrepreneurship rather than navigating a biased leadership pipeline.

Within academia, Black faculty are underrepresented at all levels, where only 7 percent of all postsecondary teachers are Black (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016) and only 4 percent of full professors are Black (McFarland et al., 2017). Although the recent 115th Congress had a record number of African Americans, they make up only 9 percent of voting members of the House and Senate (Brudnick & Manning, 2018), and historically Blacks have only served as leaders in the House. Despite our awareness of the disparities and hurdles that characterize Black leadership experiences, significant gaps remain in our understanding and practice with respect to race and leadership in organizations. Examination of the factors contributing to why Black leaders leave, and what organizations can do to prevent this, is important for the development of workplace practices that will better support these employees, as well as for the development of more scholarship that critically examines current organizational theory and literature on race and leadership.

Why Black Leaders Leave

Previous research has shown racial differences in voluntary turnover or turnover intentions suggesting that Black employees and leaders are more likely to leave an organization than their White counterparts. Differences in experienced or perceived racial discrimination, as well as in perceptions of organizational diversity climates, may explain differences in voluntary turnover between White and Black leaders. Chrobot-Mason (2013) found that White employees were less likely to be aware of ambient racial discrimination than Black employees, and these perceptions positively predicted turnover intentions. A cross-sectional study consisting of 529 practicing physicians in the United States found that Black doctors reported the most workplace discrimination compared with other ethnic groups, and these discriminatory experiences significantly predicted voluntary turnover (Nunez-Smith, Pilgrim, Wynia, Desai, & Bright, 2009). Finally, in their large-scale study of race and employee retention, McKay and colleagues (2007) found that organizational commitment mediated the relationship between diversity climate perceptions and turnover intentions. More specifically, positive diversity climate perceptions predicted higher organizational commitment, which in turn predicted lower turnover intentions. The authors also found that a manager’s race significantly moderated these relationships; these effects were found to be stronger for Black managers than White or Hispanic managers.

We must admit that like all leaders, some Black leaders leave their organizations out of a desire to do something new and to conquer bigger or different challenges. However, we also recognize the possibility that the expectations, norms, and cultural default of leadership might contribute to an environment that makes it difficult for Black leaders to thrive. This type of environment may serve as a motivating factor for the leader to find greener pastures.

For example, the prototype of leaders as being White males (e.g., Koenig & Eagly, 2014) presents a pervasive barrier to any non-White and nonmale high-potential person attempting to move up the ladder to leadership and executive positions. The career trajectory for high-performing and high-potential Black workers can be suppressed by systematic biases in job assignment (Pager, Western, & Bonikowski, 2009), performance appraisal (Stauffer & Buckley, 2005), and advancement (Baldi & McBrier, 1997). Additionally, some argue that the pipeline to leadership often rewards dominant, narcissistic, aggressive, and manipulative behaviors (Campbell, Hoffman, Campbell, & Marchisio, 2011), which may be perceived as acceptable traits for a White male but threatening and unprofessional if displayed by someone who does not fit the White male leader prototype (e.g., a person of color; Neubert & Taggar, 2004). Scholars support this argument by highlighting some organizations’ tendencies to embrace and favor Black male managers who have a disarming quality about them, referred to as the teddy-bear effect (Livingston & Pearce, 2009).

Black women, who are often the least represented in positions of leadership, are also subject to bias and are left to navigate what are called “pet” and “threat” states (K. M. Thomas, Johnson-Bailey, Phelps, Tran, & Johnson, 2013). Black women in the early stages of their careers, and who may be seen as token Blacks in their workplaces, often experience treatment that undermines their position as competent professionals. They are instead treated as pets, heavily monitored and looked after by higher-status majority-group members in the organization. When Black employees do transition into some managerial role, they are then perceived as less professional (Block, Aumann, & Chelin, 2012) and less effective. They are also perceived to have less potential for leadership opportunities than White managers (Rosette, Leonardelli, & Phillips, 2008). These assumptions, and the pet treatment that follows, may prevent high-performing Black leaders from receiving opportunities for growth that would otherwise be granted to those identified as potential future executives. The absence of such professional development opportunities, and the bias it indicates, could result in the turnover of Black leaders, who opt to either reside in organizations that value their contributions or pursue entrepreneurial endeavors.

Black women who reject or shed this pet identity and make the decision to remain in their organization are then likely to be perceived as threatening. This perception causes the individual to face hostility and distancing behaviors from coworkers, responses to the striking evidence of a Black woman’s success and competence in an environment operating under a clear status quo (K. M. Thomas et al., 2013). Thus, traits that are typically revered, such as resilience and perseverance through hardship, can backfire for Black women. In this instance, these characteristics are viewed as a threat and may welcome even greater instances of isolation and resistance from colleagues (K. M. Thomas et al., 2013).

In sum, Blacks in today’s workplace toe the line in order to be perceived as leaders, with certain constraints imposed on them due to prescribed characteristics of leadership and restrictions on who is to be a leader. When that line is crossed, the Black leader is left to operate under conditions that stifle success and productivity. He or she must then grapple with the idea of, yet again, moving on.

Consequences for Black Leaders

Temporary unemployment often has a substantial impact on career trajectory and success that lasts decades after the period of unemployment, even for highly credentialed executives who are expected to make continuous career advances (Reitman & Schneer, 2005). This is partially due to the loss in human capital accumulation, particularly when the employment gap takes place early in one’s career (Judiesch & Lyness, 1999). Human capital theory, which reflects the overall accumulation of job knowledge, skills, and social networks, indicates that human capital builds with age and experience (Bryant, Jeon-Slaughter, Kang, & Tax, 2003; Wilson & Musick, 1997). Indeed, the longer the gap in employment, and the subsequent erosion of human capital, the greater the resistance one may encounter to reentry. For example, researchers in one study sent out twelve thousand fictitious resumes in response to job openings and compared the rate of callbacks for applicants with varying terms of unemployment ranging from one to thirty-six months. Applicants who had been unemployed for eight months or more received substantially fewer callbacks than those with shorter unemployment duration or who were currently employed (Kroft, Lange, & Notowidigdo, 2013). Given the historic and ongoing trend of higher unemployment rates among Black workers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2018), this bias can indicate discrimination with a broader adverse impact (Karren & Sherman, 2012; Maurath, Wright, Wittorp, & Hardtke, 2015).

Since finding a job becomes more difficult the longer the duration of unemployment (Kosanovich & Theodossiou Sherman, 2015), those who do not have the relatively quick pathway to reentry afforded by economically useful networks (Granovetter, 1997; Massey, 2007) face exacerbated challenges. A gap in employment can make reentry particularly difficult for Black workers, who tend to have less personal access to networks that assist in job placement (e.g., Ibarra, 1995; Parks-Yancy, 2006; Tajfel & Turner, 1979). This assistance comes in the form of access to information about job openings, influence within the hiring process, and status afforded by an internal referral (Lin, 2001).

Job opportunities in leadership positions are often shared within informal social networks, and positions that have access to this type of information are largely dominated by White men (Stainback & Tomaskovic-Devey, 2012). Informal networks tend to reflect the ongoing racial segregation in housing, worship, education, and workplaces (DiTomaso, 2015), particularly for White people, who tend to have more homogenous networks (Ibarra, 1995) and more access to resources to share.

It has widely been argued that the use of social connections in hiring serves to perpetuate inequity and undermine efforts toward equal opportunity and greater diversity in organizations (DiTomaso, 2015). In a study of how people in different groups use their network access in the workplace, McDonald (2011) concluded, “Gender and race segregation in social networks help to consolidate the resource advantages of White men, while also limiting female and minority access to these resources” (p. 328). It should be noted that Black female leaders likely face greater barriers in recovering from temporary unemployment, as they tend to have fewer network connections than White men, who confer the most financially lucrative job connections (McDonald, 2011) compared with White women and Black men.

Long-term unemployment can be particularly consequential for Black workers, even leaders. In addition to wage gaps, Black families tend to have disproportionately lower accumulated wealth than White families (Thompson & Suarez, 2015), making them more vulnerable to financial instability. Aside from practical concerns about meeting daily financial needs, this increases the likelihood of financial strain, the psychological stress and worry surrounding financial hardship (Ullah, 1990).

Additionally, the financial strain of long-term unemployment tends to predict diminished mental and physical well-being (McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg, & Kinicki, 2005), which can undermine job-seeking efforts. A meta-analysis of 104 studies examining the impact of unemployment on well-being indicated that personal, social, financial, and time-structure-related coping resources helped to protect well-being (McKee-Ryan et al., 2005). Of the variables in this meta-analysis, financial strain was among the strongest negative correlates with mental health and overall life satisfaction. Expectations for future employment opportunities was also found to be a strong correlate with these outcomes, a variable that may be affected by Black leaders’ observations and encounters in the workplace. Experiences of racism and discrimination preceding the period of unemployment likely take a substantial toll on well-being (Clark, Anderson, Clark, & Williams, 1999; Deitch et al., 2003). Past encounters with biased performance ratings (Stauffer & Buckley, 2005) and disproportionate standards for promotions (Baldi & McBrier, 1997) can also undermine confidence in future employment opportunities.

The combined factors of financial vulnerability, physical and mental health, and network access thus make it increasingly difficult for Black workers, even those previously identified as leaders, to resume career trajectories that would lead to more influential positions.

Some Black leaders who leave their positions turn to business ownership. Rather than seek employment in another organization where they may encounter a familiar pattern of resistance, hostility, or limitations, some find the freedom of starting their own business to be worthwhile. Though we could not access comprehensive data tracking the career paths following Black leader turnover, broader data sets of the characteristics and motivations of entrepreneurs reveal how high-performing, leadership-oriented Black workers often turn to self-employment. Data from the US Census 2015 Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs reveals differing motivations and priorities among business owners of different races that are consistent with what we know about barriers that high-achieving Black workers often face in organizations. Among this sample, Black business owners had a higher rate of postgraduate education (a master’s, doctorate, or professional degree) than any other racial group (United States Census Bureau, 2015). The reasons that Black entrepreneurs provide for starting their businesses reflect the perception that their alternatives for employment would provide less career growth than self-employment. Black business owners were more likely than White business owners to report that having an avenue for their ideas was “very important” in their motivation to become an entrepreneur (United States Census Bureau, 2015).

Additionally, a greater number of Black versus White business owners reported that flexible scheduling and balancing work and family were very important reasons for starting their businesses. Flexibility is often seen as a perk or reward to high-status employees in larger companies. The perception that employment with another company would offer less flexibility mirrors past evidence that Black workers have less access to flexible work arrangements than others (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012; Council of Economic Advisers to the President, 2014).

Black business owners were also more likely to cite the potential for greater income and, to a lesser extent, the difficulty of finding a job as motivators (United States Census Bureau, 2015), reflecting financial and employment disparities reported elsewhere in this chapter. Other reasons, such as having a desire to work for themselves or having a friend or family role model, were similar in importance among White and Black entrepreneurs (United States Census Bureau, 2015).

Despite similarity in these motivators, Black business owners are substantially more likely than White owners to have founded their business, rather than purchase or inherit an existing business (United States Census Bureau, 2012). Despite the substantial investment of time and resources involved in starting a business, the combination of the difficulty of reentering the workforce and the detriments of long-term unemployment may contribute to the greater number of highly educated Black entrepreneurs choosing this alternative.

Consequences for Minority Followers

When Black leaders leave organizations, the negative implications of their departure extend beyond the self. While a Black leader’s departure can have some adverse effects for that individual, it also exacerbates barriers for people of color still employed by the organization. With one less Black leader in their workplaces, employees of color are left to navigate settings characterized by implicit biases, few mentors like them, and restricted opportunities for advancement.

Research focused on race inside the workplace suggests that race affects the quality and prevalence of developmental relationships (D. A. Thomas, 1990). Developmental relationships are those in which both the mentor and the mentee benefit, and the mentee receives sufficient career-related support. Studies find that when compared with the support available for White males, support for Blacks may be viewed as a risk and therefore takes longer to attain due to the higher level of competence expected of a Black protégé before he or she is mentored (D. A. Thomas, 1990). This may contribute to D. A. Thomas’s (1990) finding that Black employees often form their strong developmental relationships with fellow Black workers. The perception that White leaders may lack adequate cultural understanding and be unable to relate to Black mentees further draws potential protégés to leaders of color, who are suspected to be able to provide more beneficial and life-relevant resources. Therefore, as an alternative to waiting for a developmental relationship to form with a White leader, Black workers are more likely to form close ties with fellow Blacks. Along with mutual understanding, these same-race relationships offer greater psychosocial support than those involving a White leader (D. A. Thomas, 1990). Appropriately, when Black leaders exit the organization, these beneficial relationships are either dismantled or strained, resulting in the problems that arise when Black followers rely on White leaders for their career development.

The dependence on same-race relationships brings another challenge. Because of the fluidity of jobs and roles in today’s competitive workplace, it is recommended that workers seek out multiple mentors in order to receive varying degrees of expertise and types of resources. This presents a problem because of the limited number of Black leaders capable of filling these mentor roles for Black protégés who may seek same-race guidance. Therefore, employees of color are often left competing and falling short of proper support (McCarty Kilian, Hukai, & McCarty, 2005). This dearth of Black mentors also contributes to the finding that Blacks have a larger portion of their mentor relationships with those other than immediate superiors (D. A. Thomas, 1990), which introduces an additional strain of having to put forth efforts not expected of their White counterparts. Because of the limited number of leaders of color in the pool of possible mentors, Black employees may report low levels of perceived social support, cultural connectedness, and inclusion.

It should now be understood that a Black leader’s exit from the workplace can hold great implications for the employees of color who remain, such as ineffective mentoring relationships and less-than-ideal exposure to high-ranking persons to aid in career lateralization, which subsequently lowers career optimism (Friedman & Holtom, 2002). In the field of academia, these consequences are even more evident, as faculty members of color are few in several disciplines. Generally speaking, faculty lack the competence and training to provide effective mentoring to students of color, leaving them to have deficiencies in career guidance, to lack knowledge of the relevant literature, and to experience feelings of discomfort. For these reasons and others, students of color often venture outside their departments or universities to seek adequate guidance from Black professionals and faculty if they don’t perceive complementary matches in-house (K. M. Thomas, Willis, & Davis, 2007). All these factors considered, if the few Black faculty scattered within disciplines in academia were to exit, this issue would be exacerbated. On the extreme end, Black students seeking mentorship may opt out of pursuing a career in academia due to a dearth of interactions with like role models or inadequate mentor-protégé relationships with those who are available. Ultimately, the departure of a Black leader could lead to poor guidance and the subsequent departure of other Blacks.

Consequences for Organizations: Missing Out on Unintended Benefits

Effective Black leaders provide support, supervision, guidance, direction, and correction as any good leader does. However, for many organizations, there are also unintended benefits that are lost or never realized when Black leaders leave their organizations. When organizations are inclusive, Black leaders can enhance organizational effectiveness by using their unique positionalities to offer novel perspectives, ideas, and analyses that enable institutions to better serve and lead diverse stakeholders. Black leaders can do this by using their “otherness” to disrupt and derail decision making based on historical priorities that may no longer serve the needs of the modern organization, as well as to challenge ideas emerging from team-based group-think that too often pass as meritorious rather than simply affirming of the status quo. Therefore, the loss of Black leadership talent lessens the diversity of perspectives required for the institutional competitiveness that is inherent in an increasingly diverse labor and consumer market.

High-status role models, such as Black leaders, may also challenge implicit stereotypes and biases related to who leaders are. Simply put, they challenge a White standard of leadership (Rosette et al., 2008). As leaders, Blacks may also play an unintended role in challenging anti-Black bias. For example, research on the efficacy of an anti-Black-racism intervention demonstrated that contact with high-status Black models reduced racist behaviors of Whites toward Black men, and a combination of contact with a Black mentor and participation in a cultural diversity workshop resulted in reduced racist behavior of Whites toward Black women (Maluso, 1995). This experiment, which illuminated the potential role of Black leaders as high-level role models or mentors, may help dismantle anti-Black prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination in organizations. Therefore, the opportunity to disrupt anti-Black bias and detail discrimination is eliminated when Black leaders depart.

Black leaders also create a new chapter in an organization’s history and provide a more contemporary and perhaps more diverse institutional image. The role of Black leaders in facilitating an organizational image that values diversity and is inclusive cannot be minimized, given the importance of organizational image to job-seeker attraction (Perkins, K. M. Thomas, & Taylor, 2000; K. M. Thomas & Wise, 1999). When organizations have had challenging histories concerning race, a Black leader can provide an alternative, “new and improved” diversity narrative. The presence of a Black leader may suggest that the organization has evolved to be less hostile to marginalized groups. Black leaders also create an image that conveys to potential job seekers and business partners that the organization is friendly to people of color and reflects an inclusive climate.

Black leaders can be bicultural boundary spanners (Bell, 1990; Ernst & Yip, 2009). That is, Black leaders occupy space in multiple groups, both seen and unseen. As leaders, they hold membership in a high-status, powerful group that is influential and controls resources and power. Yet as Black people, these leaders are also tied to a group that has historically lacked access to education, power, influence, and resources, as well as opportunity. Black leaders therefore have an opportunity to convey the realities, concerns, and values of Blacks to other leaders, while sharing the strategies and currency needed to ascend in one’s career with other Blacks.

Not only do Blacks in positions of leadership signal potential professional development to other Blacks, but their status as underrepresented is likely also a signal to a variety of individuals who are “Othered” in organizations (Catalyst, 2014). For example, the presence of Black leadership may signal to women or sexual minorities that the organization can also make space for their leadership. Underrepresented leaders, such as Black leaders, likely convey a message of identity safety (Purdie-Vaughns, Steele, Davies, Ditlmann, & Crosby, 2008) to other marginalized groups. Organizational doors are particularly likely to open to other Blacks when a Black leader has been successful in that same role. That is, pioneers change the pattern of who is considered credible and offered an opportunity to perform once the initial entry barrier has been broken (Greer & Virick, 2008).

Summary

Our examination of Black leaders has attempted to reinforce a positive psychology of their presence and value to organizations and the intended and unintended benefits they provide and that are lost when they leave. Black leadership has consequences for the self-image and identities of those in positions of power. However, Black leaders also help to challenge racist images of who leaders are while providing critical role modeling and mentoring for other upwardly mobile Blacks and those who are designated as the Other. In many ways, Black leaders normalize diversity for other individuals, as well as for the organization.

Prior research has identified several factors that contribute to Black leaders’ departure from their organizations, and while much is known about Black leadership experiences and how they may contribute to their turnover, there are many avenues for future research that may augment our current understanding. First, the current literature on Black leadership in the workplace would benefit from studies that are designed to quantitatively examine Black leaders’ experiences longitudinally and understand how they may ultimately result in turnover. Understanding how Black leaders’ attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions change over time may give insight into how and why Black leaders leave and at what stage in their careers certain factors may be especially damaging or supportive. Second, studies that incorporate multilevel designs that examine within- and between-persons effects of different factors involved in Black leadership experiences (e.g., organizational diversity climate, emotional labor, affective events) may illuminate some of the nuances that Black leaders experience that may contribute to or mitigate their desire to leave the organization. Daily diary methods and experience sampling methodology (Fisher & To, 2012; Mehl & Conner, 2012) are well suited to capturing this type of data due to their ability to test hypotheses related to repeated experiences in the workplace using relatively small sample sizes. Due to the low prevalence of Black leaders, which only increases as one ascends the leadership ladder, the statistical power requirements of most quantitative methodologies that require moderate to extremely large sample sizes are unable to serve research questions focused on this population. Finally, more mixed-methods research should be implemented that examines both quantitative and qualitative data regarding Black leadership and turnover. Using mixed methods allows for a more holistic examination of research questions that may not be addressed using just one method (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2011). Future research on Black leader attrition should consider using longitudinal, multilevel, or mixed-method designs to capture the complex nature of Black leadership and experiences that may contribute to or buffer against their turnover.

In addition to recommendations for future research, there are several recommendations for organizations that may help prevent or mitigate the negative experiences Black leaders have in the workplace. Organizational-level diversity management initiatives should occur at multiple areas of employment, including recruitment, selection, development, and promotion. The motivation for recruiting and retaining Black leaders needs to be centered on the increased value that these individuals will bring to the organization, rather than increasing racial quotas (D. A. Thomas & Ely, 1996). It is also crucial that an organization evaluates its current diversity climate to ensure that current and future employees are effectively supported. Administering an anonymous survey to every employee, across all departments and responsibilities, that assesses the availability of support resources, quality of workplace relationships, and value for diversity is one way of getting a pulse on how well or poorly an organization is managing diversity. Not knowing how well one’s organization engages in diversity may lead to unintentional or intentional misrepresentation of inclusive diversity climates during recruitment, which can result in higher distrust and costly turnover of Black leaders. Business organizations should consider sponsoring risk-taking leadership programs and executive coaching specifically for Black women, who often miss out on informal mentoring and networking benefits with high-powered organizational members (Taylor & Nivens, 2011) and who may suffer more than others when performance doesn’t meet expectations (Rosette & Livingston, 2012). Same-race mentorship is also an impactful method for reducing the negative effects of workplace microaggressions often faced by Black leaders (Holder, Jackson, & Ponterotto, 2015), which further stresses the importance of having Black men and women at all levels of leadership within the organization. In sum, several strategies are available for organizations to support Black leaders and discourage turnover.

REFERENCES

Baldi, S., & McBrier, D. B. (1997). Do the determinants of promotion differ for Blacks and Whites? Work and Occupations, 24, 478–497. doi:10.1177/0730888497024004005

Bell, E. L. (1990). The bicultural life experience of career-oriented Black women. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11, 459–477. doi:10.1002/job.4030110607

Block, C. J., Aumann, K., & Chelin, A. (2012). Assessing stereotypes of Black and White managers: A diagnostic ratio approach. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 42, 128–149. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2012.01014.x

Brudnick, I. A., & Manning, J. E. (2018). African American members of the United States Congress: 1870–2018 (Congressional Research Service Report 7-5700). Retrieved from https://www.senate.gov/CRSpubs/617f17bb-61e9-40bb-b301-50f48fd239fc.pdf

Bryant, W. K., Jeon-Slaughter, H., Kang, H., & Tax, A. (2003). Participation in philanthropic activities: Donating money and time. Journal of Consumer Policy, 26, 43–73. doi:10.1023/a:1022626529603

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2012). American Time Use Survey—2011 results [Data files]. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/tus/data.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2016). Labor force characteristics by race and gender, 2016 (Report No. 1070). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/race-and-ethnicity/2016/home.htm

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2018). Labor force statistics from the Current Population Survey, 1948–2018. Retrieved from https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

Campbell, W. K., Hoffman, B. J., Campbell, S. M., & Marchisio, G. (2011). Narcissism in organizational contexts. Human Resource Management Review, 21(4), 268–284. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2010.10.007

Catalyst. (2014). Feeling different: Being the “other” in US workplaces (Report). New York, NY: Catalyst.

Chrobot-Mason, D. (2013). Secondhand smoke: Ambient racial harassment at work. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 28(5), 470–491. doi:10.1108/jmp-02-2012-0064

Clark, R., Anderson, N. B., Clark, V. R., & Williams, D. R. (1999). Racism as a stressor for African Americans: A biopsychosocial model. American Psychologist, 54, 805–816. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.54.10.805

Council of Economic Advisers to the President. (2014). Work-life balance and the economics of workplace flexibility (Report). Retrieved from https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/docs/updated_workplace_flex_report_final_0.pdf

Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Deitch, E. A., Barsky, A., Butz, R. M., Chan, S., Brief, A. P., & Bradley, J. C. (2003). Subtle yet significant: The existence and impact of everyday racial discrimination in the work place. Human Relations, 56, 1299–1324. doi:10.1177/00187267035611002

DiTomaso, N. (2015). Racism and discrimination versus advantage and favoritism: Bias for versus bias against. Research in Organizational Behavior, 35, 57–77. doi:10.1016/j.riob.2015.10.001

Ernst, C., & Yip, J. (2009). Boundary spanning leadership: Tactics to bridge social identity groups in organizations. In T. Pittinsky (Ed.), Crossing the divide: Intergroup leadership in a world of difference (pp 87–100). Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

Fisher, C. D., & To, M. L. (2012). Using experience sampling methodology in organizational behavior. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33, 865–877. doi:10.1002/job.1803

Friedman, R. A., & Holtom, B. (2002). The effects of network groups on minority employee turnover intentions. Human Resource Management, 41, 405–421. doi:10.1002/hrm.10051

Granovetter, M. (1997). Economic action and social structure: The problem of embeddedness. International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, 83, 142–171. doi:10.1002/9780470755679.ch5

Greer, C. R., & Virick, M. (2008). Diverse succession planning: Lessons from the industry leaders. Human Resource Management, 47, 351–367. doi:10.1108/dlo.2009.08123cad.002

Holder, A., Jackson, M. A., & Ponterotto, J. G. (2015). Racial microaggression experiences and coping strategies of Black women in corporate leadership. Qualitative Psychology, 2, 164–180. doi:10.1037/qup0000024

Ibarra, H. (1995). Race, opportunity, and diversity of social circles in managerial networks. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 673–703. doi:10.2307/256742

Judiesch, M. K., & Lyness, K. S. (1999). Left behind? The impact of leaves of absence on managers’ career success. Academy of Management Journal, 42, 641–651. doi:10.5465/256985

Karren, R., & Sherman, K. (2012). Layoffs and unemployment discrimination: A new stigma. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 27, 848–863. doi:10.1108/02683941211280193

Koenig, A. M., & Eagly, A. H. (2014). Evidence for the social role theory of stereotype content: Observations of groups’ roles shape stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107, 371–392. doi:10.1037/a0037215

Kosanovich, K., & Theodossiou Sherman, E. (2015). Trends in long-term unemployment. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2015/long-term-unemployment/

Kroft, K., Lange, F., & Notowidigdo, M. J. (2013). Duration dependence and labor market conditions: Evidence from a field experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128, 1123–1167. doi:10.3386/w18387

Lin, N. (2001). Social capital: A theory of social structure and action. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Livingston, R. W., & Pearce, N. A. (2009). The teddy-bear effect: Does having a baby face benefit Black chief executive officers? Psychological Science, 20, 1229–1236. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2009.02431.x

Maluso, D. E. (1995). Shaking hands with clenched fists: Interpersonal racism. In B. E. Lott & D. E. Maluso (Eds.), The social psychology of interpersonal discrimination (pp. 50–79). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Massey, D. S. (2007). Categorically unequal: The American stratification system. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Maurath, D. T., Wright, C. W., Wittorp, D. E., & Hardtke, D. (2015). Volunteer experience may not bridge gaps in employment. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 23, 284–294. doi:10.1111/ijsa.12114

McCarty Kilian, C., Hukai, D., & McCarty, C. E. (2005). Building diversity in the pipeline to corporate leadership. Journal of Management Development, 24, 155–168. doi:10.1108/02621710510579518

McDonald, S. (2011). What’s in the “old boys” network? Accessing social capital in gendered and racialized networks. Social Networks, 33, 317–330. doi:10.1016/j.socnet.2011.10.002

McFarland, J., Hussar, B., de Brey, C., Snyder, T., Wang, X., Wilkinson-Flicker, S., … Hinz, S. (2017). The condition of education 2017 (NCES 2017-144). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2017144

McGirt, E. (2016, January 22). Why race and culture matter in the C-suite. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/black-executives-men-c-suite/

McGirt, E. (2017, September 27). The Black ceiling: Why African-American women aren’t making it to the top in corporate America. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/09/27/black-female-ceos-fortune-500-companies/

McKay, P. F., Avery, D. R., Tonidandel, S., Morris, M. A., Hernandez, M. A., & Hebl, M. R. (2007). Racial differences in employee retention: Are diversity climate perceptions the key? Personnel Psychology, 60, 35–62. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2007.00064.x

McKee-Ryan, F., Song, Z., Wanberg, C. R., & Kinicki, A. J. (2005). Psychological and physical well-being during unemployment: A meta-analytic study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90, 53–76. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.90.1.53

McManus, M. (2016). Minority business ownership: Data from the 2012 survey of business owners (U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy Issue Brief 12). Retrieved from https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/advocacy/Minority-Owned-Businesses-in-the-US.pdf

Mehl, M. R., & Conner, T. S. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of research methods for studying daily life. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Neubert, M. J., & Taggar, S. (2004). Pathways to informal leadership: The moderating role of gender on the relationship of individual differences and team member network centrality to informal leadership emergence. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 175–194. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.02.00

Nunez-Smith, M., Pilgrim, N., Wynia, M., Desai, M., & Bright, C. (2009). Health care workplace discrimination and physician turnover. Journal of the National Medical Association, 101(12), 1274–1282. doi:10.1016/s0027-9684(15)31139-1

Pager, D., Western, B., & Bonikowski, B. (2009). Discrimination in a low-wage labor market: A field experiment. American Sociological Review, 74, 777–799. doi:10.1177/000312240907400505

Parks-Yancy, R. (2006). The effect of social group membership and social capital resources on careers. Journal of Black Studies, 36, 515–545. doi:10.1177/0021934704273501

Perkins, L. A., Thomas, K. M., & Taylor, G. A. (2000). Advertising and recruitment: Marketing to minorities. Psychology & Marketing, 17, 235–255. doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6793(200003)17:3<235::aid-mar3>3.3.co;2-r

Purdie-Vaughns, V., Steele, C. M., Davies, P. G., Ditlmann, R., & Crosby, J. R. (2008). Social identity contingencies: How diversity cues signal threat or safety for African Americans in mainstream institutions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 615–630. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.94.4.615

Reitman, F., & Schneer, J. A. (2005). The long-term negative impacts of managerial career interruptions: A longitudinal study of men and women MBAs. Group & Organization Management, 30, 243–262. doi:10.1177/1059601104269110

Rosette, A. S., Leonardelli, G. J., & Phillips, K. W. (2008). The White standard: Racial bias in leader categorization. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 758–777. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.93.4.758

Rosette, A. S., & Livingston, R. W. (2012). Failure is not an option for Black women: Effects of organizational performance on leaders with single versus dual-subordinate identities. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 1162–1167. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.05.002

Stainback, K., & Tomaskovic-Devey, D. (2012). Documenting desegregation: Racial and gender segregation in private-sector employment since the Civil Rights Act. New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Stauffer, J. M., & Buckley, M. R. (2005). The existence and nature of racial bias in supervisory ratings. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(3), 586–591. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.90.3.586

Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W. G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33–47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Taylor, T. S., & Nivens, B. (2011). The League of Black Women: Risk and reward: Black women leading out on a limb (Report). Retrieved from http://events.leagueofblackwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Risk-and-Reward-Report1.pdf

Thomas, D. A. (1990). The impact of race on managers’ experiences of developmental relationships (mentoring and sponsorship): An intra-organizational study. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 11, 479–492. doi:10.1002/job.4030110608

Thomas, D. A., & Ely, R. J. (1996, September–October). Making differences matter: A new paradigm for managing diversity. Harvard Business Review, 79–90. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/33149013/MAKING_DIFFERENCES_DIFFERENT.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1549483527&Signature=9D8NfziW1K0n0h%2BlDG3lMky7H9M%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DMaking_Differences_Matter_A_New_Paradigm.pdf

Thomas, K. M., Johnson-Bailey, J., Phelps, R. E., Tran, N. M., & Johnson, L. (2013). Women of color at midcareer: Going from pet to threat. In L. Comas-Díaz & B. Greene (Eds.), The psychological health of women of color: Intersections, challenges, and opportunities (pp. 275–286). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

Thomas, K. M., Willis, L. A., & Davis, J. (2007). Mentoring minority graduate students: Issues and strategies for institutions, faculty, and students. Equal Opportunities International, 26(3), 178–192. doi:10.1108/02610150710735471

Thomas, K. M., & Wise, P. G. (1999). Organizational attractiveness and individual differences: Are diverse applicants attracted by different factors? Journal of Business and Psychology, 13(3), 375–390. doi:10.1023/a:1022978400698

Thompson, J. P., & Suarez, G. A. (2015). Exploring the racial wealth gap using the survey of consumer finances (Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-076). Washington, DC: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2665627

Ullah, P. (1990). The association between income, financial strain and psychological well-being among unemployed youths. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 63, 317–330. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.1990.tb00533.x

United States Census Bureau. (2012). Survey of Business Owners and Self-Employed Persons. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sbo.html

United States Census Bureau. (2015). Annual Survey of Entrepreneurs [Tables]. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/ase/data/tables.html

Wilson, J., & Musick, M. (1997). Rater training for performance appraisal: A quantitative review. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 67, 189–205. doi:10.1111/j.2044-8325.1994.tb00562.x