Afro hair discrimination: the DEI ‘blind spot’ affecting black women in the workplace

Blog posts

10 Dec 2024

Jan Northcroft, Research Intern

In a fit of exasperation, my daughter recently exclaimed: ‘My friends keep calling my hair fluffy!’ This has been a constant theme since she started secondary school; while said in jest, such comments are jarring, leaving her with the feeling something is intrinsically wrong with her curly hair.

According to the organisers of World Afro Day CIC, these sorts of interactions are all too common for black and mixed-race people, particularly women, and can begin as early as four-years-old. In the workplace, many black women have found their skills and labour are welcomed by employers. Just not their hair. I’m referring to afro hair discrimination, a lesser-known employment issue - and DEI “blind spot” - impacting the representation and retention of black women in the workforce.

Earlier this year, my colleague Dr Meenakshi Krishnan urged employers to prioritise inclusion, rather than purely focusing on diversity, to fully bring DEI values to life. Black women’s experiences of afro hair discrimination perfectly illustrate why a more holistic approach to DEI is imperative.

In this blog, I’ll discuss exactly what afro hair discrimination is, how it manifests in the workplace, and how addressing this issue will enable employers to create more inclusive workspaces, as well as attract and retain more diverse talent.

Afro hair discrimination is a type of workplace bias predicated on an old colonial view of afro hair as inferior to longer, straighter Eurocentric hair. A 2020 US study into hair discrimination found, in diverse organisations, natural afro hairstyles are commonly deemed unacceptable in the workplace –particularly in corporate environments.

Linked to beliefs around professionalism, competence, and ‘fitting in’, such attitudes manifest in workplace cultures, policies and practices throughout the employee lifecycle, including:

• Workplace hair bans
• Recruitment bias against those with Afro hairstyles
• Unwarranted scrutiny of, or unpleasant comments about, black hair
• Temporary exclusion from the workplace or dismissal

IES has reported on the perils of the ‘aesthetic labour market’ - where an employee’s perceived ability to do their job is judged on their ‘look’ - advising such expectations can lead to discriminatory workplace practices affecting those who do not conform to idealised standards of appearance. While the PURPOSE research programme focuses on overweight and obesity, its findings are also applicable to other aspects of appearance, such as hair.

Not all black employees will experience, or be affected by, afro hair discrimination; however, evidence suggests many black workers feel under pressure to eschew natural hairstyles for a more Eurocentric hair appearance:

• 93% of black people in the UK have faced negative comments about their afro hair
• one in five black women have felt the need to straighten their hair for work
• 61% of women of colour have had to perform the “mental gymnastics” of altering their self-presentation in the workplace, compared to 44% of white women, with black women most likely to change their hairstyle.
• In a survey of 10,000 black Britons, 98% of respondents said they felt compelled to compromise who they were in the workplace, including their hairstyle.

Deloitte refers to the act of downplaying an aspect of one’s identity, and conforming to the dominant mainstream identity, as “covering” – warning it is detrimental to employees’ sense of self and organisational commitment. This conundrum impacts workers from a range of minoritised groups, including LGBTQ+ employees, as IES Research Fellow Billy Campbell blogged about last year.

Even the most progressive of employers cannot rest on their laurels: strong organisational DEI commitment does not necessarily mitigate hair bias, as the World Afro Day workplace hair acceptance report highlights. Of the 1,000 UK and US employers surveyed in this study, 85% of those who valued DEI still deemed ‘straight hair’ appropriate for all employees. This figure dropped to 65% when the same employers were asked whether they considered Afrocentric hairstyles appropriate for all workers. These findings suggest there remains an expectation for black women to wear Eurocentric hairstyles in DEI-focused workplaces.

Contemporary DEI thinking contends that employees are more likely to feel included when they can bring their true selves to the workplace. But how can black women be fully authentic when they are expected to hide a fundamental part of their identity?

This can take its toll on employee workplace wellbeing. Black women have described how experiences of hair bias at work have drained their self-confidence and complicated their sense of identity, affecting their ability to do the job. Afro hair discrimination can also severely hamper black women’s career progression, and even lead to dismissal from the workplace.

The key here is for employers to be proactive. Just as campaigners are pushing for greater protection of afro hair in equalities legislation, employing organisations can also be at the forefront of this change.

Employers can take several approaches to better support black employees by fostering more open, inclusive workspaces:

• Be aware of hair bias and how it influences organisational decision-making around recruitment and retention of staff. Organisations should re-examine the objectivity of their recruitment practices to eliminate potential for afro hair bias. Job criteria based around prospective employees having a certain look, such as a 'smart' or 'professional' appearance, should be avoided. If black hair is deemed to breach organisational policies, there should be a legitimate, demonstrable reason why the policy exists.
• Employers and trade union staff should also champion the Halo code – a voluntary charter protecting the rights of employees with natural hairstyles associated with their cultural identity.
• Ensure company policies around standards of appearance are objective and do not directly or indirectly discriminate against employees with afro hair.
• Introduce a zero-tolerance company policy around afro hair discrimination with clear, transparent procedures for incident reporting.
• Foster inclusive environments where diverse hairstyles, including afro hair, are accepted.
• Promote allyship. While inclusive company policies and strong leadership are essential to eradicating afro hair discrimination, all staff members can support each other as workplace allies, as inclusion is a collaborative, collective effort and should be driven by all employees.

Have you reviewed your DEI strategy lately? As we approach a new year, now would be a great time to assess whether your organisation is taking a more holistic approach to diversity and inclusion, one that focuses on employee wellbeing and organisational culture. By doing so, we can cultivate and inspire inclusive workplaces that provide a welcoming and safe space for young people like my daughter and future generations of workers to come.

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Any views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Institute as a whole.