| DELIVERING ON DIVERSITY, GENDER EQUALITY, AND INCLUSION
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| In this issue, we look at hair discrimination in workplace dress codes and at how nurses are faring at this point in the pandemic. |
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| That’s roughly the share of Black Americans surveyed by McKinsey who said that their company rarely, or only sometimes, allows employees to express themselves in personally meaningful ways—through their clothing, hairstyles, jewelry, and makeup, for example. By contrast, just one in five of their White counterparts said that employees could not often express themselves in these ways. The McKinsey survey included nearly 25,000 employees from a dozen companies, including some of the largest private-sector employers in the US; industries ranged from tech and telecoms to retail and consumer packaged goods. Black and White employees at these companies had strikingly different views and experiences when it came to company support for self-expression.
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| Meanwhile, academic studies on this issue offer a clear picture of racial bias and discrimination. One peer-reviewed paper from 2020 shows that Black women with natural hairstyles face significant bias in job recruitment: across multiple studies, they were perceived to be less professional and less competent than Black women with straightened hairstyles and White women with straight or curly hairstyles—and they were less likely to be recommended for job interviews. Dr. Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, coauthor of the paper and senior associate dean at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, sums up the situation: “This bias exists and this is not trivial.” |
| In many states, this is also not legal. To date, 14 US states have banned race-based hair discrimination, including discrimination targeting braids, twists, and locks, in addition to afros. They have done that by passing legislation such as the CROWN Act. The words behind the acronym: “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair.” |
| As Dr. Rosette points out, people of all genders can experience hair discrimination—and it takes place in countries around the world. |
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| One in three registered nurses in the US may leave their current direct-patient-care role in the next year. That’s according to a McKinsey survey of more than 700 frontline nurses across the country, conducted in late November 2021. Remarkably, many of those thinking of leaving their position say that they may leave direct patient care altogether. Among the reasons to consider leaving, respondents cited chronic staffing shortages, an unsustainable workload, the emotional toll of their job, and the fact that the pandemic is wearing on—and that relief is not yet in sight. |
| In a recent episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Gretchen Berlin, a registered nurse and McKinsey senior partner, discusses the circumstances that nurses are facing and how employers can improve their work experience. Among the top ways that nurses in the US say that their employers can support their well-being: provide more breaks, including breaks during shifts, paid time off, and opportunities for rotations. |
| And to learn more about what nurses need? A leader can spend more time with nurses during their shifts. |
| — Edited by Julia Arnous, an editor in McKinsey’s Boston office |
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