ASAP reflection papers (3) based on 5 articles each - Human Resource Management

Journal of Career Development, Vol. 30, No. 2, Winter 2003 ( 2003)

Biculturalism—Outsiders Within: The Career Development Experiences of Black Human Resource Developers*

Ian C. Barrett Cobb County School District

Ronald M. Cervero Juanita Johnson-Bailey

The University of Georgia

Consistent with the career development issues that black* people encounter, it is likely that black human resource developers face unique career develop- ment issues versus human resource developers in general. However, an ex- haustive search did not find research that has focused specifically on the ca- reer development process of black human resource development professionals. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the career experiences of black human resource developers. A qualitative study was conducted of 10 black human resource developers. Interviewing was the primary data collec- tion method and the data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The results of this study indicate that the respondents experienced similar career challenges to other black workers. Based on the results, we posit that because of racial prejudice and discrimination, black human re- source developers serve as outsiders within traditional work organizations and become skilled at using bicultural strategies for managing various as- pects of their lives.

KEY WORDS: biculturalism; outsiders within; race; human resource developers.

Black people who work in traditional organizations face common career issues. Many of these challenges are institutional or systemic

*The more inclusive term “black” is used to describe persons of African descent re- gardless of where they were born.

Address correspondence to Ian C. Barrett, Director of Human Resources, Cobb County School District, 514 Glover St. SE, Marietta, GA 30060.

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0894-8453/03/1200-0109/0  2003 Human Sciences Press, Inc.

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in nature. Brown (1995), Fouad and Bingham (1995), Osipow and Fitz- gerald (1996), and other researchers provide detailed reviews of these issues. In a brief review of career issues facing non-white male em- ployees, Eby, Johnson and Russell (1998) found that non-white work- ers face common career challenges. At career entry, the challenges include limited access to vocational guidance and assessment, track- ing into “appropriate” jobs, managing the stereotypes and biases held by others, discrimination in the selection process, and isolation from networks both within and outside organizations. During career devel- opment, the challenges include lack of developmental feedback, lim- ited access to mentors, treatment differences by direct supervisors, discriminatory organizational practices, lack of ascension because of the glass ceiling, tokenism, and job content plateauing.

As we move further into the twenty-first century, work organizations are faced with increased diversity in the workforce, globalization, and technological change. Human resource developers play vital roles in help- ing work organizations and their people prepare for these opportunities. The role has expanded from being an effective teacher and administrator to one that consults with individuals, teams and organizations to achieve performance that supports organizational objectives. Gone are the days when human resource development people simply handled administrative tasks (e.g., kept records of people who attended training), and transac- tional functions (e.g., revised performance appraisal forms). Human re- source development has become a strategic force with influence beyond training interventions and evaluation forms (Rhinesmith, 1995; Robin- son & Robinson, 1999). With the changes in the role of the human resource developer, the career development of this professional becomes more im- portant. At least four studies have been done in whole or in part on this subject (Hess, 1991; Hicks, 1991; Hutcheson, 1981; Knapp, 1995). None of these studies have looked critically at the career development of black hu- man resource developers. Consistent with the career development issues that black people encounter, it is likely that black human resource devel- opers face unique career development issues versus human resource de- velopers in general. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the career experiences of black human resource developers.

Review of the Literature

Collins (1986) has addressed the topic of the outsider within phe- nomena within the lives of black women. She posits that during the

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era of segregation and Jim Crowism, black women as domestic work- ers had access to white people in their homes. These women were insiders because they raised the families’ children, listened to and wit- nessed their employer’s life stories, and became pseudo family mem- bers. Yet, at the same time, these women were outsiders because they were black women who were subordinate to their employers because of their race and gender. While being marginalized can be debilitating to some people, Collins posits that being in the margins can in part be self-affirming and provide unique perspectives.

At the 1996 annual meeting of the Academy of Management, a group of black female scholars built upon Collins’ work through a sym- posium (Proudford & Thomas, 1999a). Specifically, each presenter and discussant was asked to address how being an outsider within, “that is, within the boundaries of the organizational sphere, yet outside of its mainstream, impacted the choices, behaviors and experiences of black women in organizations” (Proudford & Thomas, 1999a, p. 23). This work served as the foundation for the 1999 special issue of the Journal of Career Development on “Organization Outsiders Within.” For the study, the connection to the work done by Collins, Proudford, Thomas and others is clear—how does being both an insider and outsider influ- ence the career development of black human resource developers?

Collins’s outsider/insider work as interpreted by Proudford and Thomas (1999a, 1999b) provides insight into the concept of bicultural- ism. Dill (1979) identifies Charles Valentine as the person who coined the term “biculturality” to depict how blacks interact with white soci- ety. Biculturalism is the ability to function in two sociocultural envi- ronments and to negotiate between them (Darder, 1991). For black people, it necessitates operating in the dominant mainstream culture and being a member of minority group, which often is subordinate to the dominant culture. Chimezie (1985) indicates that simultaneously living in two cultures requires the sharing of “the same values, atti- tudes, beliefs, tastes, artifacts . . . and to be guided by the same norms, and social expectations as prevail in both cultures” (p. 224). Almost 100 years ago, W.E.B. DuBois wrote that black people in America have “double-consciousness,” which is both being oneself and seeing oneself through the eyes of others. This double-consciousness leads black people to have tacit understandings about that which is expected of them in specific situations. In the workplace where black employees exist between their black culture and a work culture that is grounded in whiteness, biculturalism becomes a valuable tool that aids employees in adjusting to a different culture. Biculturalism is an

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important concept in the workplace because of the notion of assimila- tion. Bell (1990) indicates that “assimilation requires blacks to con- form to the traditions, values, and norms of the dominant white cul- ture” (p. 462). Black people shed their cultural identity and attempt to assume elements of white culture. Cox (1993) proposed that assimi- lation is a one-way process in which the culture of the dominant group becomes the standards of behavior for all. Members who are culturally different from the majority are required to suppress the norms, values and practices of their culture of origin. One result is that minorities often feel alone and alienated in their struggles to manage cultural discord. Writing specifically about black professional women, Bell (1990) indicates that these women operate in a bicultural world that requires forming careers in the white world while preserving their per- sonal roles in the black community. What may lead to acceptance and fulfillment in one context may obtain the opposite results in another. Biculturalism helps to explain the strategies that black people employ in negotiating power between their culture and the dominant culture.

Methods

The focus of this interpretive study is the lived experiences of the respondents, black people who work as human resource developers. The qualitative design of this study allowed us to understand the meaning that people had constructed and how they made sense of their experiences in the context of their own worlds (Merriam, 1998). Sample selection was conducted using the principles of purposeful sampling (Merriam, 1998), which involves creating a list of criteria and then matching the participants to the required attributes.

The criteria for this study included race, profession, age, work expe- rience, and management experience. First, the person needed to self identify as being African American or black. Second, each respondent had to be a human resource professional whose job responsibilities comprise at least 50 percent of human resource development activi- ties, and/or whose management responsibilities include the human re- source development function. Third, each person had to be at least 30 years old. The interrelated ideas of learning through experiences, the evolution of career issues, and the reduction of career options over time support a rationale for looking at the career lives of people who are at least 30 years of age. Fourth, a person had to have at least 10 years work experience, with at least five years experience in human

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resource development. This criterion was important because the goal was to find respondents with rich sets of work and human resource development experiences upon which he or she could reflect and de- scribe during the interviews. Fifth, a respondent needed to have or have had employees reporting to him or her. The rationale was that if the respondent had influence over the careers of others, this might have sharpened their skills in career management for others and themselves. As shown in Table 1, the sample of 10 people (who were assigned pseudonyms) had a variety of work assignments (trainers, managers, directors and vice presidents), industries (corporate, gov- ernment and higher education), and varied lengths of experience in the field (6, 11, and 20 years). In addition, no two respondents came from the same work organization. Respondents were added until the saturation point was reached—the point where the data becomes re- dundant. (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994; Merriam, 1998).

The interview guide was in a semi-structured format and was com- posed of six broad open-ended questions that were strengthened by person-specific and context-specific follow-up probes. Each interview

Table 1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of the Study Participants

Years in Current Education Name Age Field Position Industry Level

Christine 51 13 Associate Higher Education Bachelor’s Director

Douglas 44 20 Assistant Government Bachelor’s Commissioner

Eloise 48 6 Director Newspapers Two years of college

Jay 50 20 Vice President Forest Products Master’s Jane 46 21 Director Healthcare Master’s Jason 32 11 Director Security and Master’s

Services Joy 57 16 Vice President Human Service Master’s Lester 52 15 Manager Communications JD Queen 54 10 Manager Healthcare Some

college Tanya 42 15 Manager Retail Master’s

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was conducted at the convenience of the participant at the location of their choice and lasted about one and one half hour to two hours. Whereas interviewing was the primary data collection method, field ob- servation and document analysis were secondary data collection tools. Notes were made in nine work locations about the types of photographs they had on their desks, degrees, certificates and company materials displayed, and the presence or absence of any material that could have identified their racial or ethnic heritage. Documents were the third form of data collection. Resumes were collected in order to examine career paths and progression, responsibilities and accomplishments, and educa- tion and training. The goal was to triangulate the data from all three sources. Data triangulation is the process of using several sources of data (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998; Mathison, 1988; Merriam, 1998).

The constant comparative method was used to analyze the data, specifically the method as outlined by Maykut and Morehouse (1994). In this method, units of data, words, sentences or data chunks are compared in an effort to inductively develop categories. Member checks and peer/colleague examination were used to address the internal validity of the results (Merriam, 1998). The criteria for selection of peer/colleague reviewers was the same as for the respondents, and that group consisted of five human resource developers who were not participants in this study. Both the participants and the peer/col- league reviewers were sent a synopsis of the study (background infor- mation, statement of problem and purpose, sample criteria and sum- mary of the findings), a letter, and a findings review feedback form. Each letter requested the person to comment on the findings and to return their feedback forms. The responses from the peer reviewers and the participants strongly supported the reported findings. Re- searcher bias may be present in the study in three ways. First, the primary researcher had to manage both his position as a member in the community of black human resource development professionals in the city where the respondents were selected and the role of data col- lector. Second, he had to acknowledge his views about race in the workplace that had been shaped by specific experiences he had with an employer in 1996 and 1997. Third, he had to separate his own career experiences from those presented by the respondents.

Results—On the Outside Looking In

The idea that black human resource developers serve as outsiders within traditional work organizations is supported by two core factors.

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First, the respondents routinely worked in unfavorable racial cli- mates. Second, as outsiders within, the black human resource develop- ers had acquired approaches for handling racial issues at work.

Worked in Unfavorable Racial Climates

All workers face hardships, setbacks and tough times. However, black workers deal with issues of race on the job simply because they are black. Often, these issues are centered on how black people fit into work organizations that are composed primarily of white people. Assimilating an increasingly heterogeneous workforce is a struggle for organizations in the twenty-first century (Eby, Johnson & Russell, 1998). Many times, this struggle causes blacks to work in unfavorable racial climates, which was a key experience of the black human re- source developers in this study.

The Effects of Affirmative Action

Respondents felt that affirmative action was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it opened many doors for them. On the other hand, they felt that many people believed that they were afforded opportunities solely because they are black—opportunities that maybe other people should have gotten. Jane, an executive at a large insurance company expressed her views on affirmative action:

I know that early on, I’m talking about in the 70’s, affirmative action was a big issue for organizations, and I know that at [name of the com- pany], in particular, was very high on making sure affirmative action goals were met. So, I was provided some opportunities there by being a black female in an organization . . . So, that’s positive and I knew that I could do it [the work] and I did it . . .

When Jane was asked if her being afforded opportunities based par- tially on her race had any effects on other people, she said:

I remember doing, facilitating workshops back-in-the-day and white males were feeling slighted. . . . there was a women’s class, a black class, well minorities at the time . . . and the white males voiced it loud and clear that they didn’t appreciate some of their opportunities being taken away from them.

Queen explained how she lives with the anxiety of a typical affirma- tive action dilemma when her company was bought by a competitor:

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I believe race was a factor in the new company hiring me because they didn’t have a very diverse human resources team. Even though the per- son over human resources for the [new company] is a black female, they had no minorities . . . So, sometimes now, I question if they [the new company] really wanted me because of my skills and abilities or because they recognized they needed to have a different look; I struggle with that sometimes.

Prejudice and Discrimination

At work, the black human resource developers faced prejudice and discrimination. Cox (1993) defines prejudice as attitudinal bias with the intent to prejudge something or someone on the basis of one’s group identity. Cox (1993) defines discrimination as “behavioral bias towards a person based on the person’s group identity” (p. 64). Group identities include race, ethnicity, gender, nationality and physical ability.

Tanya talked about an incident where her white manager said she did not see Tanya as black while at the same time, the manager was making racially insensitive remarks. Tanya said:

. . . whenever we dealt with diversity issues, [the manager’s] perspective was, “well I don’t see you and [colleague A] and [colleague B] as black women. I see you as the training manager, the ER manager, and the benefits manager.” So, well that’s the problem. That is the problem be- cause I am a black woman, and that is who I am first. So, it was impor- tant to me for [her] to understand that that’s who I was, because then I think, my point to [her] was, then you will be more sensitive about things you did and said in our presence.

Jay recalled an experience with a recruiter who questioned his ability to do math:

. . . when I first got to the labor [relations] part of the business, I was appalled when a recruiter asked me, “How are your math skills?” I said, “What do you mean?” This was a Jewish guy. He said, “Look Jack, I’m Jewish. I’ve been through a lot of [stuff] just because of my ethnicity.” But he said, “You know, a lot of folks think that,” his words were, “you guys don’t have the math skills to do some of this stuff.” I said, “I know how to cost a contract.” He said, “Hey, I’m just being up front with you.” It really was shocking that this was in . . . I joined [name of company] in ’91, so this was like ’88, ’89. Some of this stuff was still floating around out there.

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Career Plateauing and Glass Ceiling Issues

Lack of promotion and glass ceiling issues affected some of the re- spondents. Meritocracy, or advancement based on individual ability and achievement, seemed to be elusive. Many of the respondents pre- pared for their careers by earning degrees, pursuing different kinds of work experiences, and honing their technical skills. All but two of the respondents had college degrees. Five respondents had master’s de- grees, and one respondent had a law degree. Yet, many of them were not getting to the levels in organizations and obtaining the responsi- bilities that they thought they should. Douglas explained his feelings about not having access to leadership assignments in human re- sources where one gets to direct the work:

. . . at some point when you become “corporatized” (laughter), you start to wonder, “How come, why not me? What’s next? What’s in it for me,” those kinds of things. And you look around and one of the obvious things is that you don’t look like your boss. I leave that statement right there. I think we’ve been taught to, that we’ve got to bring more to the table, be faster, be stronger, be better, be brighter and then still keep your fingers crossed and hope that you get tagged, that you get to climb the ladder. I try to put that out of my mind. I still don’t know today whether that’s a ploy or not. I try to let my work speak for itself, but it takes awhile to come to that realization that no matter what you do, at least for me, I’m going to be black all my life.

Lester, age 52, echoed this same sense of weariness when he decided to retire from his employer of 20 years. Lester did not believe that skill and performance were the basic criteria for promotion at his em- ployer. He said:

I think I’ve made wise decisions in the jobs that I’ve selected. I’ve been in training. I’ve been in assessment. I’ve been in organizational develop- ment. And I’ve been in management staffing. So, the job selection them- selves, I think has been very important to my development. It’s just that my advancement is not meeting my expectations. So, it’s not the job itself. It’s not the roles and responsibilities. It’s not per se the recognition. It’s advancement and responsibility. Those are the issues that I have.

Isolation

Often, black human resource developers did not see other people who looked like themselves in human resources departments or

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among the managers that they serve. The most frequently cited exam- ple of being isolated was at meetings. There were three issues relative to meetings that were mentioned: (1) the decisions about who got in- vited, (2) the racial composition of the attendees, and (3) who was acknowledged at the meetings. Jay discussed which comments were acknowledged in meetings. He said:

I guess the most annoying thing for me is sometimes being in meetings when . . . and I guess I’m at the age where I laugh at some of it now . . . but, you’re in a meeting and you present your view or make a comment on something and people kind of just gloss over it. And then someone else, say a white male, comes along and makes almost the identical point, may be worded a little differently, but the content, the meat of the message is the same. And all of a sudden they’re falling out of their chairs on how brilliant that is and how wonderful that is. I’m saying, “Y’all are full of [stuff].”

When asked if there are specific times at work that cause you to re- member that you’re black, Jane answered:

It’s usually when I’m in business meetings, particularly at my current company, that reminds me that I’m black. I’m in a room full of O’s and I’m the only X in there. It’s sometimes when I say things that I know that I’m not heard, and I know that I heard myself because I know that I spoke words. It’s almost like I’m invisible sometimes when I say things.

Developed Approaches for Handling Racial Issues at Work

The black human resource developers confronted issues of race at work, and these issues were related to them being black. The respon- dents developed tactics for dealing with these issues. An initial step was that they made decisions about which issues to ignore and which issues to tackle. Each individual used his or her own criteria to make these decisions. Depending on the situation, a second step that some respondents took was to prepare themselves for handling the racial issues. A part of preparing themselves included data gathering.

When asked how she handled people’s comments about her being an affirmative action hire, Jane said, “I just tuned a lot of things out, so . . . yep . . . when I could . . . and I was conscious of it. I mean I’m very intuitive by nature, so I know what I’m up against usually.” Lester was asked how he handled issues of race at work. He said that he made decisions to challenge some issues and ignore others. He out- lined his criteria for making these decisions and said:

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It depends on the intensity of the aggravation. Or if it goes directly at disrespecting me. Or if it’s going to cause me financial penalty, then I’ll challenge it. Just stupidity on people’s part, I ignore that. It really doesn’t have an impact on me because I know who I am.

Jay described his strategy for handling certain racial issues. He evalu- ated the pros and cons as he would in any kind of business decision. He said:

It’s almost like you have to make a business decision here, you know. Is it worth it? Am I going to win anything here? Or, can I fight that battle again another day? . . . One of the things we introduced . . . a leadership development program, and we started to grow our own leaders. So, I was able to influence the organization by going to Florida A&M, by go- ing to South Carolina State. Going to some black universities to get talent into the organization. Put them all in here [this organization] and now they’re in other organizations (laughter). Well, they’re still within [this company], so . . . several of them. But, I figure, you know, if I alien- ate myself from the people who can influence that, I’m not going to posi- tively affect the people that are coming behind me or that are currently in the organization. So, if I think I can fight the battle on another day or in another way, cause this is part of my special forces training, you don’t always have to be on the front lines fighting the battle.

Joy’s strategies for dealing with issues of race had evolved over time. Earlier in her career, she ignored these issues. She explained that she had no other options:

. . . I really think that I didn’t focus on race. It was my way to survive it because now that I look back, I can tell you some ways that race impacted me, but I never, ever considered it while I was going through it. I never once considered that these things were happening because I was black, because I think if I had, I think it would have tapped into things emotionally that would have made it difficult to function.

In her current human resources position, Joy had begun to examine the issues of race and gender in her career. She believed that her career stage and current employer provided a context where she could examine these issues:

. . . I have begun to allow myself to open up this whole race/gender issue and look at it personally and really be willing to confront the issues that I have around it, the pain that’s there, the sadness, the grief, which I haven’t fully done yet . . .

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Results—Adopted Bicultural Strategies

The experiences of working in unfavorable racial climates, function- ing in affirmative action and diversity assignments, and developing approaches for handling racial issues at work influenced the respon- dents to develop bicultural strategies to negotiate between their work and personal lives. A response to working in a predominantly white world was to specifically seek out and develop relationships with black people at work and to immerse themselves in primarily black lives away from work.

Developed Black-Based Support Systems at Work

Many of the black human resource developers in this study devel- oped networks that consisted of other black people within and outside of their work departments. In addition, many of the respondents de- veloped relationships with black human resource professionals who worked for other organizations. From these relationships, the respon- dents seemed to obtain development, information, social interactions and support.

Jane was an active member of the black human resources associa- tion in [southern city] and the National Association of African Ameri- cans in Human Resources. She was a member of the Society for Hu- man Resource Management (SHRM), but she was not active. She said:

At [the black human resources association], I can relate to the folks better there because I can just be real down-to-earth and get involved in things there. And I’ve been to a couple of SHRM meetings and func- tions and it’s just to me kind of artificial.

In addition, she found support in the two black females who report to her and explained:

. . . And then the two black females, now that report directly to me, that’s been helpful. I’m trying to think if I’ve had other . . . I’ve had other people of color report to me, but it was a different kind of relation- ship. So, I’m able to kind of like “be me and real” with them. So, that’s been really helpful for me to be able to manage people like that versus just always needing to be this prim and proper, almost "white girl” kind of person that I’m not.

Jason expressed similar views and said his interactions with his white mentors are formal while his interactions with black mentors are in- formal:

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. . . most of my mentoring from my African American mentors occurs after hours, and most mentoring from my non-diverse mentors occurs during work hours. My best mentor is the person that I would go out on Thursday night and party with and after three or four hours of partying, we could share things that would prepare me for the next week. But, with my white mentors it was from nine to five.

Overall, six respondents had reported to black managers at times during their careers, and at the time of the interviews, four respon- dents had black supervisors. The respondents found it especially good to work for black supervisors who were mentors. Jane said the rela- tionship with her current supervisor, who is a black female, was dif- ferent from relationships she has had with other managers because:

We’re able to communicate candidly about things that, and in our own way, about things that are sometimes not always business-related. We can kind of like break things down to each other with some real off- the-cuff personal kinds of comments, “Hey girl, what’s going on" . . . You know, just lingo that I wouldn’t use with the white male . . . And we do that kind of in our way, sometimes. We take care of the business piece and communicate professionally the way we need to and with the people that we need to, but there are just times that I’m kind of at ease with being able to casually talk and be more myself.

Douglas’ comments about his black manager are in line with Jane’s comments:

It is different from what I’ve experienced in the past in that it’s all natu- ral. We certainly share similar experiences, from a black perspective. We can open up about others that we work with or try to work with. We can get it out on the table and act upon it. A lot of the hidden or covered up issues, the real taboos that you can’t talk about with people that are not of your race is not an issue. We can talk about that. We can cut straight to the chase if we like to, but we always try to be very bottom line oriented.

Immersed Themselves in Primarily Black Lives Away from Work

Away from their jobs in corporations, universities and government, the black human resources developers lived primarily black lives. They surrounded themselves with black people and their activities were centered around other black people. That does not mean that they did not interact with white people away from work, but that ef- forts were made to have strong ties with other black people. The rea- sons for these separate lives were: (1) away from work, they got to

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choose those people with whom they interacted, and (2) they felt com- fortable around other black people.

Jason was at one extreme of the spectrum. He lived a totally black life away from work and said:

Oh, I interact with no non-African American outside of work. It’s that simple. I may say, “hi.” I may brush pass. My doctor, my dentist, my lawyer, my accountant, my financial planner, I operate exclusively within an African American community outside of work. Not only be- cause I live in [southern city], but partially by choice . . . I make a con- scious effort to surround myself [with black people]. Only my mechanic for one my cars is non-African American and everyone else is. My neigh- borhood, it’s an African American neighborhood. I mean probably ninety percent. So other than running into people, I exclusively live in an Afri- can American world.

However, Douglas was more typical of the respondents. His life away from work consisted of mostly interacting with black people, but he did come in contact with white people. About the racial composition of his neighborhood, he said, “Mostly white. It’s a great place to raise kids, I believe.” He attended a black Baptist church and 85 percent of his friends away from work were black. About the difference in the racial composition of the people in his work and home environments, he said, “. . . you get to pick and choose at home who you want to have as your friends, what church you want to go to, etc., etc., etc.”

Tanya echoed Douglas’ remarks about having the ability to choose the people in her life away from work:

Because I’m surrounded by those [white] people [at work] not necessar- ily by choice and so I have to work at building relationships with them. Okay, as opposed to when I’m not at work, I’m surrounded by people that I choose to be with and certainly the quality and the nature of those relationships are different.

Queen lived in a community which she described as, “a nice middle class, well established area I live in. Many of my neighbors are retir- ees.” When prodded, she said her neighborhood was, “Majority minor- ity, the whole neighborhood. It’s an old, established neighborhood. I live in a black neighborhood (laughter).” About her church, she said that it is:

A large church, predominantly black. We do have some, a few whites that go there. We can count them on one hand, and those are some

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interracial marriages is how they are there. Predominantly black with a membership of about 8,000.

About her friends, she said, “I have a cross-section of friends, a hodge- podge of friends (laughter). From professional to non-professional friends. Not very diverse. Some white friends, but very few.” When asked to explain why she interacts mostly with black people away from work, Queen said:

Because sometimes when I leave work I’ve had enough. I’ll just be hon- est. But, you know, that’s not it so much. But I think it’s maybe some of my . . . the things I enjoy outside of work are more with minorities than not . . . work can become all consuming. I spend the majority of my life at work, so the few hours I have or days when I’m not at work, I don’t do a lot that will remind me. It’s just some days, you know, when you go through the issues and some of the things I see, some of the conversations with a lot of the people, especially in this environment, when I walk outside of the door it’s like something is lifted from me . . . I need to have a division between me and here [work].

Discussion

We posit that because of racial prejudice and discrimination, black human resource developers serve as outsiders within traditional work organizations and become skilled at using bicultural strategies for managing various aspects of their lives. Since their race serves as an obstacle for the black human resource developers, they function as outsiders within at work. The career challenges that the black human resource development respondents experienced are consistent with those outlined by Eby, Johnson and Russell (1998).

Affirmative action was one of the issues that the respondents dis- cussed. In general, affirmative action continues to be perceived as both a good thing and a hindrance. In a 1995 reader poll of Black Enter- prise magazine, 21.6 percent and 67.6 percent said that affirmative action was “very effective” and “somewhat effective” respectively (Ben- nett, 1995). However, 62.9 percent indicated that they thought affir- mative action had some negative effects, to include qualifications being questioned, negative perceptions and backlash, and white rejec- tion and resentment (Bennett, 1995). A reason that affirmative action is under current scrutiny is that the topic has been “racialized” (Cose, 1993; Wise, 1998). “The growing anti-affirmative action movement has sought to remove women as women from the affirmative action pic-

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ture, and instead emphasize the racial benefits to people of color and supposed white victims of these policies” (Wise, 1998, p. 9). The focus has been on racial preferences. The findings support both points. First, affirmative action was a double-edged sword for the respon- dents. On one hand, it opened many doors for them. On the other hand, they felt that many people believed that they were afforded op- portunities solely because they are black—opportunities that maybe other people should have gotten. Second, the discussion about affirma- tive action has become racialized. With both male and female respon- dents, affirmative action discussions in the interviews centered on race. Even when female respondents talked about gender issues, they saw black women’s issues as different from those of women in general.

The respondents talked about the lack of upward mobility and the glass ceiling. Meritocracy seemed to be hard to find. The idea of meri- tocracy is both an expressed and tacit idea in our country. Since the modern civil rights era, people of color and women have been told to, “get yourself an education, some credentials, and some experience. Work hard. Don’t whine or complain” (Fernandez, 1999, p. 4). The idea of the “American Dream” is tied directly to meritocracy. If a per- son does not succeed, it is because he or she did not work hard enough. It is his or her own fault. Fernandez indicates that the idea of merit in our society is flawed because it does not take into account, “our pedigree, race, ethnicity, class, age, generation, gender, national ori- gin, religion, sexual orientation, style and the like . . . ” (p. 24). These factors have an impact on how we perceive each other. Many of the respondents prepared for their careers by earning degrees, pursuing different kinds of work experiences, and honing their technical skills. The findings suggest that the respondents had been exposed to and had believed in meritocracy ideals. At a point in their careers, many of the respondents believed that experience, education, and certifications were the primary basis for advancement. Experiences that many of them had later in the their careers changed how they saw the idea of merit in the workplace. They came to realize that the attributes that make them different—race and gender (for the female participants)— are evaluated in work organizations in addition to merit. Whereas meritocracy may be espoused as an ideal, differences are considered when evaluating people.

Racism affects the development of African Americans and other mi- norities (McCollum, 1998; Osipow & Fitzgerald, 1996). Hacker (1992) defines racism as prejudice and discrimination based on race. The so- ciopolitical situation in America has affected the life circumstances for

Ian C. Barrett, Ronald M. Cervero, and Juanita Johnson-Bailey 125

African Americans and has resulted in unfair access to labor markets. Unequal treatment in an unjust labor market combined with preju- dice and discrimination result in the creation of barriers to career success and systemic forces that influence the career development of African Americans. The findings of this study support the fact that prejudice and discrimination still are present in today’s workplace. In examining the respondents’ experiences, a smaller part would be considered overt racism. These actions would be public displays of ag- gression and hostility towards blacks. Rather, racism in the workplace has become more covert, and most of the respondents’ experiences were of this type. This form of racism is less public, subtler and can involve such actions as not sharing information or not inviting some- one to a meeting.

Wells (1998) writes about this form of covert racism, or aversive racism. Racism in today’s workplace “ . . . has become more subtle, in- direct, and covert and less overtly negative than traditional forms of racism observed in the past . . . this negativity involves discomfort, uneasiness, disgust and sometimes fear, which tend to motivate avoid- ance rather than intentionally destructive behaviors” (Wells, 1998, p. 393). This form of discrimination involves turning away from other people with the goals of isolating and undermining. Thomas and Alderfer (1989) say that Wells’ ideas explain why the careers of blacks and other minorities are stopped at certain places in organizations. The systemic nature of aversive racism makes it difficult for the re- spondents and other blacks to be full participants in the American workplace. In considering the idea of biculturalism, competence in this area may be beneficial for black human resource developers. Krumboltz (1995) suggests that bicultural competency may be one way for a minority person to get ahead in business. He posits that career counselors may help clients understand that one set of norms and behaviors may be applicable to home and another set, applicable to business. Krumboltz (1995) writes, “Bicultural competence involves learning how to ‘work within the system’ to make the existing struc- ture serve the client’s needs” (p. xi). Thomas and Alderfer (1989) propose that minorities make individual choices about the level of bicultural skills they use. Bell’s (1986) study about the bicultural lives of black women suggests that career-oriented women chose to be more bicultural than black community-oriented and family-oriented women. Citing this study, Thomas and Alderfer (1989) write that a bicultural perspective “ . . . moves away from a focus on minorities as the im- pacted party, passively reacting to the forces of institutional racism.

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All of the women Bell studied made choices about how to navigate a bicultural existence” (p. 137). To Thomas’ and Alderfer’s point, all of the black human resource developers made choices to work in predom- inantly white organizations. None of the respondents had worked for predominantly black or minority organizations. Only one respondent had attended a historically black college or university.

The respondents lived their lives in concert with Bell’s (1986) bicul- tural life structure model. In the dominant American culture where there are educational institutions, work organizations, the economic system, social services, healthcare systems, and government, they earned their livelihoods. In the Black American culture, which encompasses church, family, friends, neighborhood, race-related organizations, and the black community, they lived their private lives. Most of the per- sons with whom they interacted (e.g., friends; service providers, such as lawyers, doctors, mechanics) away from work were black. Even the two vice presidents of human resources, persons who would be consid- ered to be the most successful and perhaps the most assimilated, used bicultural strategies to manage their lives.

Conclusion

Collins (1999) writes that not everyone becomes an “outsider within” via the same set of circumstances. Specific histories of social injustice provide the context. Even though today’s American context must include people from multiple racial and ethnic backgrounds, the plight of black people in America deserves special consideration. Al- though black people have comprised the largest minority group for more than 200 years, they have suffered from relentless “social and economic discrimination” since they arrived in America (President’s Initiative on Race [PIOR], 1998, p. 41). Blacks have suffered from in- stitutionalized racism and discrimination since they arrived in America in the 17th century. The black experience is unique from those of other groups because of government sanctioned and enforced slavery. The experiences of being brought to America against their will, kept as property for hundreds of years, and then being subject to segregation and Jim Crowism for decades more are unique to black Americans. In our society, enormous and concerted efforts were in place to enslave and then to subjugate blacks. Years ago, W.E.B. DuBois wrote that a primary problem of the twentieth century would be the issue of the color line (Franklin, 1965). Today, “ . . . America is

Ian C. Barrett, Ronald M. Cervero, and Juanita Johnson-Bailey 127

still struggling with the impact of past policies, practices, and atti- tudes based on racial differences . . . the legacy of race and color” (PIOR, 1998, p. 33). Although issues of race are ubiquitous for blacks in America, many of today’s black professionals have had career experi- ences about which many of their mothers and fathers could only dream. As outsiders within, blacks can use bicultural strategies to manage the cultural contexts of their lives . . . to manage their lives between the two worlds.

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