Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work

by Ruchika T. Malhotra

Maternal wall: Mothers or caregivers are penalized for their role outside work, particularly in terms of experiencing pay, promotion, and opportunity gaps. I haven’t spent much time on the role of women of color as caregivers, but even women of color who are not parents usually take an outsize responsibility in caregiving for their community. Beware the maternal/parental wall that often appears in feedback with phrases like “distracted,” “priorities lay elsewhere,” “is not ready for a promotion,” or “never stays late.” Tug-of-war bias: When there’s limited opportunity for women of color to progress, they may feel like they have to be pitted against each other to succeed. Feedback from a woman of color manager to a woman of color employee may be biased because there’s a perceived threat due to this scarcity of opportunities.