Beyond Surviving... Black Women Thriving in the Workplace

The Cost of Ignoring Black Women at Work

Black women are one of the most educated and fastest-growing segments of the U.S. workforce—yet they continue to face some of the most persistent challenges on the job. Across industries, Black women report higher levels of workplace dissatisfaction driven by pay inequity, limited advancement opportunities, racial and gender bias, and a lack of psychological safety. They are more likely to be underpaid compared to peers, overlooked for leadership roles, and expected to shoulder invisible labor such as diversity work without recognition or compensation. Many describe workplaces where they are present but not supported, visible but not valued.

In this thought-provoking episode, we sit down with Dr. NiCole T. Buchanan to unpack the complex realities Black women face in today’s workplace. From layoffs and return-to-office mandates to shifting workplace policies and leadership practices, Dr. Buchanan draws upon her decades of research examining how systemic inequities continue to shape career opportunities, and well-being. The conversation examines the unique burden of workplace microaggressions, the emotional labor of code-switching, and the persistent stereotypes—such as the “Strong Black Woman”—that can both elevate and undermine Black women in professional spaces.

Dr. Buchanan is a Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University. A Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and four divisions of the American Psychological Association, she researches the interplay of race, gender and victimization and how they impact the nature of sexual and racial harassment, their impact, and organizational best practices.

To learn more about Dr. Buchanan, click here. 

More Works by Dr. Buchanan:

• Dr. Buchanan's Instagram

• Working Group on Epistemic Exclusion (WE2)

• Epistemic exclusion: A theory for understanding racism in faculty research evaluations

• Upending Racism in Psychological Science: Strategies to Change How Our Science is Conducted, Reported, Reviewed, and Disseminated

• Effects of racial and sexual harassment on work and the psychological well-being of African American women

• Scrutinized but not recognized:(In)visibility & hypervisibility experiences of faculty of color

• Managing (in) visibility and hypervisibility in the workplace

• Intersectionality Research in Psychological Science: Resisting the Tendency to Disconnect, Dilute, and Depoliticize.

This episode will be available June 29.

Season 3 Episode 10

Running Time: 38 minutes