Wondering why we don’t have more women and Black people in leadership roles? Many are quick to point to a pipeline problem, but I believe it comes down to one word: feedback.
Stanford University researchers, in a study of thousands of annual performance reviews, discovered a significant disparity in the feedback given to women and men. Women were found to be less likely to receive specific feedback tied to outcomes, a crucial factor in career advancement. By contrast, men were offered a clearer picture of what they were doing well, how their performance was making a positive impact, and what they needed to do to get promoted.
They also noticed that women got shorter reviews, which means they received less feedback to act upon.
Then there’s survey data from McKinsey and LeanIn.Org that revealed women are less likely than men to receive difficult feedback — almost 20 percent less likely.
Regarding race, researchers at Boston University found that Black workers receive extra scrutiny from their supervisors, which can lead to less favorable or constructive performance reviews, lower wages, and even job loss.
Last but not least, an investigation by STAT found that Black medical residents either leave or are terminated from training programs at far higher rates than white residents. When interviewed, many said they received unclear communication about what they had done wrong and were written up for transgressions that went unpunished when their white peers committed them.
Why does all of this happen? These studies cited several reasons, including:
- Because of bias, we might perceive a pool of Black people as less skilled, which makes us heavily monitor their performance.
- We might avoid giving constructive feedback to someone because we don’t want to upset them. This is especially true for male managers giving feedback to women employees.
- We might be uncomfortable giving feedback to someone different from us —a different gender, race, sexual orientation, or educational background. We might think that if I point out how Aliyah, an immigrant who studied nursing overseas, could have done a better job with that patient, she might think I’m biased against people from other countries. To avoid this perception, we might soften the feedback.
Without equitable and actionable feedback, individuals from marginalized and underrepresented groups face significant barriers in improving their performance and advancing in their careers. This, in turn, hinders their progression into leadership roles.
Whether you’re providing feedback to a direct report or a peer, here are some actionable steps to support marginalized coworkers with equitable and effective feedback:
- Identify consistent criteria to evaluate employees and coworkers. And apply those criteria consistently.
- Tie all feedback to specific outcomes. For example, instead of the vague “Become a more strategic leader,” you could say, “Become a more strategic leader by better understanding our community’s needs and addressing them on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.”
- Focus on the business impact. Describe how their work has contributed to the goals of your team or organization and how they could have an even bigger impact.
- Identify new skills to learn. Mention the expertise they already exhibit and how they can develop more job-related skills.
- Don’t soften your feedback. Constructive feedback helps people to grow in their careers. Let’s not ease up to avoid hurt feelings or because we don’t want to come across as prejudiced.
- Flip it to test it. Here’s a quick way to check your feedback for this bias: Ask yourself, “Would I give the same feedback to someone of a different identity or background?”
- Write reviews of similar lengths. Now for what may be the simplest thing to do. Your goal should be to give everyone roughly the same level of detailed feedback.
By addressing the feedback disparities, we can create environments where everyone, regardless of their gender, race, or background, can do their best work and thrive in their career.
It’s is a call to action for those who strive to be better allies and foster more inclusive workplaces.
This article is adapted from Karen Catlin’s books Better Allies: Everyday Actions to Create Inclusive, Engaging Workplaces © 2021 and Belonging in Healthcare: The Better Allies Approach to Creating More Inclusive Workplaces © 2022
About Karen Catlin
Karen Catlin is a best-selling author and speaker on inclusive workplaces. She has published four books: Better Allies, Belonging in Healthcare, The Better Allies Approach to Hiring, and The Better Allies Way. She also emails a roundup of “5 Ally Actions” to over 40,000 newsletter subscribers every week.
Previously, Karen spent 25 years building software products and serving as a vice president of engineering at Adobe. During that time, she witnessed a sharp decline in the number of women working in tech. Frustrated but galvanized, she knew it was time to switch gears and focus on creating more inclusive workplaces.
