A Blessing | Research 2021

Major Findings

2021 U.S. Women of Color in Business: cross-generational survey©

The stagnation of the Onlys with a spike in Millennial Onlys:

• Despite promises of progress, despite disruptions to corporate recruiting, the coauthors’ chief performance metric – the Onlys – remains stalled, with almost half of Black and LatinX women continuing to report being frequently or always the only person of their races in professional settings.

• More distressing is that the number of Millennial Onlys – Black, LatinX as well as Asian American Millennials – has spiked: 55% for Black and 45% for LatinX Millennial female desk workers.

• Asked about being Onlys, always or frequently the only person of their race in a professional setting, 49% of Black men managers and 55% of Black women managers agreed. Their White counterparts’ responses: 39% for White men managers and 23% for White women managers.

The strong involvement of Black women especially in the Entrepreneurial and Side-preneurial movement:

• Black and LatinX women reported that they are actively participating in the current startup boom. 32% of Black Millennial women said they founded or co-founded the company they work at, almost doubling the 14% in 2020.

• Just as they reported in 2020, Black women across all generations are more likely to be “side-preneurs”—to have a business they are working on outside of their desk jobs. 27% said they are side-entrepreneurs, as opposed to 16% LatinX, 11% Asian American, and 12% White women.

First-to-Know:

• The “first to know” finding is the co-authors’ proxy for the creativity and innovation skills demonstrated by “untapped women of color.” Among Millennials, both Black and LatinX women saw significant gains in 2021. They have been ahead of White women in all three years of this survey.

STRETCH ASSIGNMENT PARITY, BUT IT CAME WITH AN APPARENT COST OF REDUCED CAREER SATISFACTION AND FULFILLMENT AMONG WHITE MEN MANAGERS:

• Male and female managers of all races – except Asian American Women – reported strikingly similar opportunities in the last 12 months for “challenging work assignments that pushed you out of your comfort zone.”

• But the data showed that that parity has come with an apparent cost. Comparing their 2021 and 2020 responses, White male managers reported marked declines in career fulfillment, career satisfaction and their assessment of being successful.

• Yet, when asked about their compensation, White male managers said they earned almost three times as much as any other category of managers, except Asian American women managers. White male managers earned slightly less than twice as much as Asian American women. One caveat: just 150 White men managers and 150 Black men managers were queried.

• The new data showed optimism and resilience among the Black men managers that mirrored the responses of the women managers and desk workers of color overall.

Manager Momentum Needed To Drive Business Performance:

• As the world becomes more diverse and younger generations demand new standards for workplace belonging and inclusiveness, effective managers matter even more. Manager Momentum answers the challenge.

Six Actions to Tap Untapped WOC Talent:

• Driven by Cultural Intelligence (CQ) skills and Generational Diversity, managers must focus on six key actionable areas:

Word Cloud – Millennial Black + LatinX Advice for Managers:

• 2021 Word Clouds delivered strong and actionable messages by generation and by race for what women of color now want from their managers.