Dive Brief:

• Black professionals are more likely to experience prejudice and microaggressions than other racial or ethnic groups, according to a Dec. 9 report from the Center for Talent Innovation.
• Forty-three percent of black executives said colleagues have used racially insensitive language in front of them. Nearly 20% of black professionals surveyed said they feel someone of their race or ethnicity would never reach a top position in their organization.
• This experience is not something white workers appear to recognize, the study found. Nearly two-thirds of black professionals surveyed said black workers have to work harder to advance; 16% of white respondents agreed with that statement.

Dive Insight:

Companies may be well-intentioned when it comes to D&I initiatives, but they're falling short of providing work environments that are inclusive for black workers, the organization's CEO, Pat Fili-Krushel, said in a press release; "We hope that business leaders will respond to these findings by making a serious assessment of their own workplaces and creating a comprehensive plan of action."

Fili-Krushel's assessment agrees with other recent research. Wages for black workers, for example, remain the lowest among all racial/ethnic groups. A report from the Economic Policy Institute showed that since 2000, wage growth was faster for white and Hispanic workers than black workers. In fact, the wage gap between black and white workers was larger in 2018 than in 2000. And black women earn just 61 cents on every dollar earned by their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts, the National Women's Law Center found.

But discrimination runs deeper than pay. As HR departments work to correct this, they will likely need to focus on ensuring equity throughout their organizations — in recruiting, hiring, promotions, firing and elsewhere. It will require a cultural commitment to inclusion, from the top down, experts previously told HR Dive.