Misogynoir - where racism and sexism intersect - continues to hinder Black women's professional advancement, wellbeing, and sense of belonging in the workplace.

"I feel as though Black women are fighting while dying inside. We’re fighting for survival while our bodies are collapsing. We’re fighting to raise children, we’re fighting to be strong while our bodies are crying under the load."

Malorie, professor

Drawing on interviews with Black women in leadership positions across various sectors - including  journalism, politics, academia, healthcare, charities and unions - this report shines a light on the experiences and challenges they face in the workplace. By journeying through their early-career, mid-career and senior-career trajectories, we unravel how Black women understand the intersecting features of their identity – of racialisation, gender, disability and class; how these factors influence their potential to access professional positions of seniority; and the way they are treated when holding these positions.

"I’m Black. I’m a woman, I’m working class. I must try 10, 15, 20, 25 times." 

Stella, councillor

The women we spoke with shared their experiences of double standards, unfair pressure to perform, slower career advancement, and institutional gaslighting, and the toll this takes on their wellbeing.

"Do not doubt yourself." 

Harriet, charity worker

Despite these challenging conditions, the women we spoke with had each developed strategies to help them retain strength and create joy throughout their careers - from building supportive professional networks, advocating for change, and taking deliberate steps to preserve their wellbeing.

Our recommendations 

"I’m sick and tired of your policies, sick and tired of your research, I need implementation, I need action."

Natalie, union worker

The burden should not be on Black women to adapt, but on institutions to address systemic failures. In this report, we set out clear, actionable recommendations for employers, trade unions, and policymakers to address systemic barriers and  create workplaces where Black women can feel safe, valued, and supported to thrive.

For employers

• Employers should create and implement anti-racist action plans to address misogynoir. This includes publishing ethnicity and gender pay gap reports, establishing clear processes for reporting racism, and setting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely targets to challenge workplace racism.
• Companies should set up structures that ensure line managers deliver equitable and fair progression and promotion outcomes for employees. 

For unions

• Unions should offer more support to Black women experiencing misogynoir, ensuring that representatives understand the barriers they face and are trained to recognise and challenge these issues.

For the government 

• We welcome plans to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting for all companies that employ over 250 employees under the proposed Equality (Race and Disability) Bill, and urge the government to ensure this is effective and require action plans to be published, disaggregate data based on Office of National Statistics (ONS) ethnicity categories, and address intersectional pay gaps.
• We want to see the new Worker Protection Act extended to all forms of harassment to encourage employers to take a proactive approach to preventing all forms of harassment.
• We also call for a well funded independent body to enforce workers' rights, greater investment in the  Equality Advisory Support Service legal advice helpline, and increased funding for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate employers with high levels of discrimination against Black women.

“It is so important that research about Black women’s experiences in the workplace is conducted, listened to and acknowledged. We see too often how these experiences are dismissed by the prevailing majority, and often these women are left with sentiments such as ‘What is all the fuss about? They need to get over themselves’, compounding the trauma that they experience.

In this report, we raise the unique experience of Black women experiencing misogynoir in the workplace because it is clear that more research is needed. Only by shining a light on these issues and discussing the necessary changes can we hold both individuals and employers accountable for improvement and make workplaces psychologically safer for Black women.”

Professor Dame Donna Kinnair DBE, our Chair of Trustees