As companies worldwide face opposition to their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, two-thirds (66%) of employees from marginalized racial and ethnic groups in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States have experienced racism at work during their career, according to a new global report from Catalyst. Half (52%) have experienced racism in their current job.
The report, How Racism Shows Up at Work and the Antiracist Actions Your Organization Can Take, surveyed more than 5,000 employees from marginalized racial and ethnic groups and reveals the pervasive and insidious ways racism exists in the workplace. The most common expressions of racism are workplace harassment (48%)—such as racist jokes, slurs, and other derogatory comments—and employment and professional inequities (32%), where respondents experienced pay gaps, were passed over for promotion, or were assigned more or less work than their colleagues based on race.
Participants also report experiencing racism in the form of racial stereotypes and degrading commentary about their bodies or cultures. Stereotypes include assumptions about a person’s intelligence, cleanliness, or language abilities, as well as blame for Covid-19. Women (51%) and men (50%) experienced racism in the workplace to the same degree. Trans and nonbinary employees experienced more racism than others (69%).
Respondents most often named leaders (41%) as the instigators of racism, but co-workers (36%) and customers/clients (23%) also engage in racist acts. Women and men are equally likely to initiate acts of racism; however, trans and nonbinary people were never cited in the survey responses as the instigators of racist acts.
Four out of five acts of racism are initiated by White people, and one out of five are instigated by another non-White person.