Photo credit: umjanedoan (Flickr)

Catalyst has released a new study, Women of Color in U.S. Law Firms, as part of its Women of Color in Professional Services Series on professional women of color. This excellent research was done by Deepali Bagati, Ph.D., Director, Research at Catalyst.  While the findings won’t be surprising to women of color attorneys who have been employed at large law firms, they are very much worth noting.  The research determined that women of color generally experienced more stereotyping on the basis of race and gender than their white female counterparts, the feeling of being an “outsider”, diminished professional development opportunities, and a lack of candid feedback.

To work toward resolving these issues, the report recommends that law firms raise awareness of the unique challenges facing women of color attorneys, provide diversity training and education, provide discussion spaces between women of color attorneys and their firm leadership, and increase accountability for the development and advancement of women of color attorneys.

Here are links to the press release and the study.

Photo credit: Muffett (Flickr)

These differences may be manifested through your skin color, hair texture, physical ability, or, depending on the environment, your gender.”  Here’s the story I referenced in my earlier post:

I once read a story of a Black female architect who (I think) was the only Black woman at her firm. She was a very timely employee, while one of her co-workers, who happened to be a White male employee, was habitually late.  One day, for some reason, she  gave him a ride in to work and he was late (as usual), making them both late. She was called into the supervisor’s office and warned about being late, though she had never been late before. The supervisor didn’t even notice that her colleague was late—and they arrived together!

Of course, hypervisibility isn’t limited to women of African descent; it also applies to anyone who appears different, whether of Asian, South Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, Native American, or multi-ethnic backgrounds.

In light of this, below are 4 ways to manage hypervisibility:

1. Don’t be surprised. Many women of color are surprised and angry when they are singled out at work, for whatever reason.  The first step in managing hypervisibility is to realize that it happens. It’s not a myth or a fabrication. It happens regularly to people who stand out (not just women). Being prepared to handle hypervisibility dramatically increases the likelihood that you will be successful in managing it.  This isn’t an invitation to focus on the negatives, but simply to accept the reality. Then you can get to the business of dealing with it in a way that won’t hinder your career advancement.

2.  Strike a balance. Since you are already noticeable to others, pay careful attention to situations where you stand out more.  Take meetings, for example. One easy way to manage hypervisibility is to  avoid taking up major airtime at meetings. Express your thoughts and opinions succinctly, and make sure they add value.  This is not to suggest that you cannot advance your ideas, but if people notice you more, they notice when you talk more. So make sure what you have to say has worth and isn’t just “businessspeak.”  Notice that this doesn’t change the fact that you stand out—that’s because we can’t (and shouldn’t) change that. Rather, we focus on making sure your visibility works to your advantage.

3.  Choose your battles and your weapons. In any workplace, you don’t want to always appear to be in some kind of battle (even if that’s how it feels most of the time).  This means you are going to have to let some things/issues/matters go. Be prepared to choose which battles are worth fighting (hint: those that get you new responsibilities, a promotion, or a raise) and ignore the ones that just aren’t worth it (read: gossip, petty infighting, and did I mention gossip?).  Choosing your weapons means just that. Managing conflicts in person are always preferable to handling things electronically—from whence they can be spread around to everyone.

4.  Adopt a “tempered visibility” approach. Decide where you are going to be seen, and be sure it’s not everywhere.  I know a number of people that are “scenesters.”  They have to be at every new or hot event, which is fine if you’re a socialite or fashionista. But in a workplace context, it’s probably better to decide what you want to be known for and then be seen doing those things.  In this way you “temper” your visibility, just by not being at everything.  Bonus: this provides an easy way to filter invitations: I want to be known for industry expertise, so I’ll attend that important industry conference. And vice versa: I don’t want to be known as a gossip so I’ll stay away from the “gossip table” in the cafeteria.

Treating hypervisibility seriously, and taking steps to manage it is one of the smartest career strategies you can employ.

Photo Credit: Russell J. Smith

Research on professional women of color often describes our “invisibility” in the workplace. But what about when the reverse is true?  What happens when we find ourselves overly visible—when everything we say or do seems to draw extra scrutiny from colleagues and supervisors?

It’s called hypervisibility.

Hypervisibility is a common experience for professional women of color, and it refers to the additional scrutiny that you receive because you appear different from others.  These differences may be manifested through your skin color, hair texture, physical ability, or, depending on the environment, your gender.

The end result of hypervisibility is that your behaviors are magnified in the sight of others because you are noticeably different from others.  I once read a story of a Black female architect who (I think) was the only Black woman at her firm. She was a very timely employee, while one of her co-workers, who happened to be a White male employee, was habitually late.  One day, for some reason, she  gave him a ride in to work and he was late (as usual), making them both late. She was called into the supervisor’s office and warned about being late, though she had never been late before. The supervisor didn’t even notice that her colleague was late—and they arrived together!

At a macro level, hypervisibility leads to the perception that diversity is no longer necessary in the workplace. Often people take more notice of those who are visibly different and so erroneously believe that there is more diversity in the workplace than is actually present.  This is a challenge for professional women of color, but also for diversity practitioners as they continue to educate others on the necessity for diversity programs and initiatives.

So, no, it’s not just you. People do notice more of what you do at work when you appear different than others. But there are ways to manage hypervisibility. I’ll share some tips on developing a tempered visibility strategy in my next post.

Photo credit: shiladsen (Flickr)

There’s a really interesting article on the challenges facing professors of color on Chronicle.com with some important references to the challenges facing women of color in the academic world. I hope we will see more articles on women of color academics—they are a largely invisible group, even in diversity discussions.

Nevertheless, there remains a firm barrier in place that prevents multicultural women from significant representation, even in an industry where they are significant consumers.

Enter Franca Sozzani, editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue.

Sozzani, inspired in part by Barack Obama and in part by Black models she knows, decided to create an issue with only Black models, shot by famed photographer Steven Meisel. It’s the July 2008 issue and features such models as Iman, Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, Liya Kebede, Veronica Webb, Jourdan Dunn, Chanel Iman and Sessilee Lopez. For those of you looking for full-figured representation in the magazine, word is that Toccara (from ANTM) is in the issue, as well.

As a black woman, I am really looking forward to seeing a magazine full of beautiful images of women who share my ethnicity–a rare thing, indeed!

As a multicultural woman, I recognize that this step only marginally impacts Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, Native American, and Latina models with what are termed indigenous features (Latinas with european features are among the highest-paid in the industry). I can only hope that this move by Italian Vogue will impact designers and advertisers to consider all types of ethnic diversity on the runway and in print. There is still much work to be done to promote the inclusion of multicultural models. In honor of them, below are links to a few models which you probably don’t know (unless you are really into fashion):

Indrani Dasgupta (India) – Indian supermodel who has walked Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai. Kinée Diof (Senegal) – Popular model who has done shows such as Lanvin, Tuleh, YSL, and Louis Vuitton. Serious stuff, this.
Du Juan (Chinese) – Featured on first cover of Chinese Vogue. And really, how many models do you know who play chess in their spare time?
Kiki Kang (Chinese) – Modeled in Fendi’s 2007 show on the Great Wall of China (that’s Karl Lagerfeld, by the way).
Sessilee Lopez (African-American) – Discovered in an open call event at a mall! Has been featured in major fashion magazines such as WWD, Vogue (American, Italian, French, Japanese), Elle and many others. She’s in the July 2008 Italian Vogue issue.
Lakshmi Menon (India) – Face of Hermès 2008 Spring (Printemps) campaign and has opened Givenchy couture.
Emma Pei (Chinese) – Dior. Need I say more?
Chanel Iman Robinson (African-American) – Well-known model who has walked in runway shows by Valentino, Dior, Gaultier, Hermès, YSL, Marc Jacobs, Proenza Schouler, Allesandro Dell’Acqua, Heatherette…and the list goes on and on!
Charo Ronquillo (Filipino) – Has modeled for Ralph Lauren, Ann Taylor, Macy’s and been featured in the pages of Marie Claire.
Lili Shen (Chinese) – Has walked the runways for Giorgio Armani, Vivenne Westwood, and Gianfranco Ferre.

(As a side note, I won’t even tell you what kind of results popped up on Google when I searched for ethnic models. Really, it was awful. Note to self: next project, clean up Internet.)

I’ll end (as the New York Times did) with Meisel’s words. His final statement, to me, describes a view of multicultural women in modeling that makes alot of sense.

“‘Here’s this exquisite girl,’ he said, addressing no one in particular. ‘What don’t you get? She’s a beautiful woman. There was no trick to it.’”

JFC