While many companies are increasingly interested in supporting diversity and inclusion in the workplace, new research shows that not all initiatives are equally effective in protecting different marginalized groups. The authors conducted a series of surveys exploring the impact of various policies on the levels of mistreatment experienced by AAPI employees in the U.S. and Canada, and found that many policies which did seem to support non-Chinese workers were much less effective in protecting employees of Chinese descent. Specifically, policies focused on the integration of differences often backfired, drawing attention to these employees’ identities and thus making them more likely to be targeted. Based on these findings, the authors argue that companies must be thoughtful in their implementation of diversity efforts, and must be sure to complement integration-focused policies with initiatives focused on equity, allyship, and mental health — or risk turning the very people they aim to protect into targets for mistreatment.
The last year has seen a staggering increase in anti-Asian racism and violence. The horrific Atlanta shooting last month sparked national outrage, but statistics in both the U.S. and Canada show that this was far from an isolated incident — anti-Asian hate has been an ongoing, pervasive issue throughout the pandemic.
Of course, many organizations had already implemented a variety of diversity and inclusion initiatives designed to ensure a safe, welcoming environment for all employees. But to what extent have these initiatives helped to protect Asian workers over the past year? And in particular, how effective have these policies and practices been in protecting workers of Chinese descent, who are especially likely to be blamed for the pandemic?
To explore these questions, we conducted a series of in-depth surveys in May 2020 with nearly 250 East and Southeast Asian workers in a variety of primarily white-collar roles across the U.S. and Canada. In these surveys, we asked participants about their organizations’ diversity initiatives, their experiences with mistreatment at work due to prejudice associated with Covid-19, their level of exhaustion and desire to stay with the organization, and their perceptions of their job performance.
Of the workers we surveyed, a full half reported that they had been mistreated at work due to prejudice associated with the coronavirus. They described incidents of ostracism by coworkers, supervisors using stigmatizing language when discussing the pandemic (such as “Kung Flu” or “Wuhan Virus”), and customers refusing their advice or service. Moreover, the workers who experienced these hateful acts more frequently reported feeling more burned out, with poorer job performance and a greater desire to leave their organization — reinforcing the well-known fact that workplace mistreatment is harmful for both the victim and their organization.
The good news is, we did find that on average, participants who reported that their organizations invested more in diversity and inclusion policies experienced fewer incidents of mistreatment. The not-so-good news is that for the most part, this did not extend to workers of Chinese descent. Although Asian workers of non-Chinese ethnic backgrounds benefited from diversity initiatives, in many cases the Chinese-American and Chinese-Canadian employees in our sample were just as likely to report mistreatment regardless of their organizations’ investment into diversity and inclusion.
To understand why this might be, it is helpful first to differentiate between three interrelated components involved in creating a positive climate for diversity and inclusion:
- Equitable employment practices: Policies focused on eliminating bias, such as equitable promotion practices and clear processes to air grievances.
- Integration of differences: Practices that encourage people to “bring their whole selves to work” by facilitating opportunities for people to share and learn about one another.
- Inclusion in decision-making: Initiatives to solicit diverse perspectives in decision-making, such as proactively asking for feedback from employees of all roles, ranks, and functions.
In our study, we found that policies focused on equitable employment generally had a beneficial impact for all Asian workers. However, practices focused on integration of differences protected non-Chinese Asian employees, but actually harmed workers of Chinese descent. Although disappointing, this is not that surprising. In the face of rising animosity towards China and Chinese people, encouraging workers of Chinese descent to advertise their ethnic or cultural heritage at work could easily backfire, turning these employees into targets for mistreatment.
Of course, there is a significant body of research in support of policies focused on encouraging authenticity in the workplace. These policies play an important role in any organization’s diversity and inclusion efforts — but to be effective, they must be implemented thoughtfully, and complemented by other initiatives.
Not All Diversity Initiatives Are Created Equal
Specifically, our results point to the importance of equity-focused policies in deterring harmful, discriminatory behaviors in the workplace. Employers should enact new policies and/or enhance their existing policies to clarify how harassment should be reported and how harassers will be punished — and these policies must go beyond vague platitudes to address the specific issues that employees face, such as stigmatizing language, microaggressions, and harmful stereotyping.
Second, practices involving the integration of differences must be complemented by efforts to ensure that when employees choose to share their identities, they are met with consistent and genuine support. Our participants often described incidents where they were mistreated while others were present, indicating there are ample opportunities for others to intervene and support their Asian colleagues as allies. These efforts can also be incorporated into a broader discussion of the importance of allyship with historically marginalized groups, particularly given the disproportionate impact that the pandemic has also had on women and on BIPOC communities.
Third, although we did not find that initiatives to enhance inclusion in decision-making did much to curb mistreatment against Asian workers during the pandemic, these policies are still essential for creating a welcoming workplace environment and enhancing innovation. While their impact on the near-term worker experience appears minimal, policies that ensure marginalized groups are included in key decisions bolster these employees’ long-term professional growth and provide a foundation for the organization to better support all employees.
Supporting Marginalized Groups Means Supporting Mental Health
In addition to policies traditionally associated with diversity and inclusion, our research also points to the important role that mental health policies can play in supporting marginalized groups.
On the one hand, when people are scared and uncertain, they often look for someone to blame — and during the pandemic, the role of scapegoat has often fallen on people of Chinese descent. Such scapegoating is never acceptable, but many employees’ anxieties around the financial and health impact of the pandemic are understandable, and these anxieties can make employees more likely to perpetrate racist acts. As such, organizations can both support all workers’ mental health and reduce the chances that employees will unfairly take out their stresses on their colleagues through basic best practices for reducing anxiety, such as communicating more transparently, inviting employees to share their input on key decisions, and making changes with as much advanced notice and empathy as possible.
At the same time, organizations must also make sure they are providing the resources that their workers from marginalized groups need. Experiencing harassment is likely to be highly harmful to anyone’s mental health, but even for those who have not been personally mistreated, being constantly exposed to these events among their peers and in the media is psychologically taxing. Organizations need to acknowledge the excess stresses that many Asian employees are under, and provide them with mental health resources such as access to culturally competent mental health practitioners, support for AAPI employee resource groups, and flexibility from supervisors on non-pressing work deadlines.
To be clear, many firms’ investments in diversity and inclusion have been paying off. These efforts have made strides in protecting Asian workers of non-Chinese ethnic backgrounds against mistreatment during the pandemic, as well as generally enhancing the working lives of other marginalized groups. However, our research demonstrates that many workers of Chinese descent have remained vulnerable to mistreatment even in purportedly inclusive work environments, indicating that there is still much to be done to achieve true workplace inclusion. In particular, encouraging workers to bring their whole selves to work is a good start, but companies must also ensure that displays of differences will always be met with respect — otherwise, they risk turning the very people these policies aim to support into targets for abuse.