Image credit: HBR Staff/Suad Kamardeen/Unsplash
A person’s job may involve talking with clients, solving logistical problems, operating a drill press, analyzing data, supervising a team of interns, or any of a zillion other workplace tasks. What does their hairdo have to do with their job performance? Silly question? Think again. Janice Gassam Asare, writer and CEO of a diversity consulting firm, discusses the everyday reality of hair discrimination faced by Black women in the workplace, and she lays out some concrete steps for addressing the problem. Her May 2023 report appears in the Harvard Business Review.
Read it here.
EXPLORE, REFLECT, SPEAK UP.
1. Job discrimination is only one of the possible risks that Black women face with regard to their hair. What other risks does Asare detail in her essay? What evidence does she present? Do you think she explains the seriousness of the problem effectively and persuasively? Why or why not? Explain your responses.
2. Asare’s report was published in the Harvard Business Review, although it could have appeared in a general audience magazine such as People, Cosmopolitan, or Essence, where the information might also be of interest to readers. Including advice for corporate leaders is one of the ways that Asare tailors her message to her specific HBR audience. Point out one or two more details or features of the article that display Asare’s awareness of her audience. What might she have done differently if she were writing for one of the other magazines mentioned above?
3. LET’S TALK. Asare talks about professionalism, a concept that is very broad and open to interpretation. What does that term mean to you? Work with a few classmates to develop a general definition of “professionalism.” Once you have your definition, consider Asare’s assertion that “Professionalism is a racial construct.” What might that mean? Test her assertion by examining whether and how your definition might be automatically inclusive or exclusive to various demographic groups (defined by gender, ethnicity, racial identity, language, size/shape, ability/disability, etc.). Do you think your definition needs to be expanded or modified in any way? Why or why not?
4. AND NOW WRITE. Think about a time that you witnessed (or participated in) some form of discrimination against somebody at your school or workplace. Write an essay in two parts: first, describe the episode and explain what the discrimination was. Next, imagine what might happen If you were to witness a similar situation or event tomorrow. What, if anything might you say or do differently? Explain the reasons for your response.
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