CHRONIC RACIAL MICROAGGRESSIONS IN THE WORKPLACE: CAREER DECISION SELF-EFFICACY, COPING, AND CAREER PROGRESSION

Abstract

The disparity in hierarchical achievement between African American (black) and Caucasian (white) professionals is a known issue in corporate America. Although many organizations have pledged their commitment to closing this gap through programs aimed at increasing the diversity leadership pipeline, little progress has been made to increase the diverse representation in firms. Despite the many obstacles that hinder black managers from rising to leadership positions in U.S. firms, some have found a path to organizational success. Practitioners and scholars alike acknowledge that explicit racism in corporations is no longer openly accepted. Instead, the literature reveals more subtle forms of race-based insults directed toward people of color, racial microaggressions. This research used semi-structured interviews to explore how African American leaders who have achieved career success in large and mid-sized firms cope with the chronic racial microaggressions that occur at the workplace. Furthermore, I explored the implications of those coping strategies on their confidence and ability to make decisions that affect their careers, and ultimately the subsequent career progression associated with their career decisions. This analysis concluded that a relationship exists between methodologies employed to cope with microaggression stresses, career decision-making confidence, and career progression with black professionals. The study results suggest that acknowledging chronic racial microaggression stressors in the workplace by black professionals and using coping mechanisms that approach the stressors as problems to be addressed and solved rather than avoided may be a more likely path to organizational success.