Delivering race equality

It’s time for action, urges Loraine Martins OBE, Nichols Group’s Director for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and a 2019 APM award winner.

The past two years have seen increased attention on diversity and inclusion generally. This has been precipitated by COVID‑19 – its disproportionate adverse effects on people from minoritised communities in terms of health; the significant increase in working from home, which for many women meant added pressure; and forced changes in working arrangements, be they remote, flexible or agile. There has also been a greater focus on health and wellbeing, ranging from mental health to menopause.

Add this to the murder of George Floyd, which engendered a more specific focus on racism, and we witnessed a greater reflection at individual, organisational and societal levels and increased engagement on issues related to race and inequalities – albeit in some cases at a surface level. Nevertheless, the result was an impetus to do better; to go from a passive ‘I’m not racist’ position to exploring and to make sustained and meaningful change by being active anti‑racists. Similarly, with this increased attention on discrimination comes an enhanced desire for data about minority communities and a desire to understand better what that data tells us.

Facing into the numbers

The data about diversity and inclusion in the project management space is similar to that of other sectors and professions, in that there is a distinct lack of ethnic diversity, and specifically black talent. There are myriad explanations for this. People do not come upon project management professionals in schools and colleges, so it is a profession that people stumble upon. We need then to increase engagement with schools and colleges.

Gathering data on diversity and inclusion can be challenging. We know that people hesitate or decline to share their ethnicity and other aspects of their identity for a number of reasons, such as a fear of the data being used against them – for example, not getting shortlisted for jobs – and a lack of confidence in how the data is used and stored. Or some white people asserting that black people were only appointed because of their ethnicity, which most times is inaccurate and is always insulting.

We know too that people with non‑Western and non‑European sounding names are at risk of being less likely to be shortlisted for a role. Underpinning all of these features, we know that we tend to appoint people in our own image, those with whom we have an affinity. So it can be no surprise that the project management sector, like others, looks as it does – majority white, in part because white people are making the hiring and firing decisions and in part because not enough minority communities are aware of and are applying for roles – although this is changing. Added to this mix, some people from minority ethnic communities perceive their ethnicity as limiting access to career opportunities, including promotions and secondments, and experience ethnicity (i.e. not being white) as a barrier to ‘traditional’ networks. All these factors contribute to the low numbers in project management and low numbers in leadership positions.

In October, APM held its first ever event marking Black History Month, and the theme of the session was ‘Accelerating Black Talent’, stimulated by APM’s Salary and Market Trends Survey 2021. The results of the survey indicate that 15% of the professionals in the project management sector are from ethnic minority communities. So, where has all the black talent gone and why are we so under‑represented in the project management arena?

The numbers need to improve, yet addressing under‑representation and inequality is not solely or primarily a numbers game. It is about a cultural and systemic transformation and creating working environments where people can thrive and grow. The data is a snapshot at a point in time that can inform the cultures that we want to create. The numbers help tell the story of the deficit. What we also need to do is gather and listen to the anecdotes that give the numbers light and shade – talking to black people who have had multiple applications rejected or are regularly pipped at the post. Or colleagues who anglicise their names to get a foot in the door. Or those who experience the daily throwaway racism and micro‑aggressions.

These stories bolster the perception that there is a dearth of black talent. The truth is, if work is an uncomfortable place or you discern that you’re being given lesser treatment and fewer, if any, opportunities, why would you stay in what can be deemed a hostile environment that affects your health and wellbeing, and that of your family and social circles? Sharing these stories of racism is exhausting, particularly if there is no change, so the task now is for colleagues, leaders and businesses to be more responsible and eradicate such behaviour, rather than simply being appalled.

If you build it, we will come

As a discipline, there’s work for us to do to give greater visibility to our profession – project management and its place in delivering big and small change; its coordination, anticipation, preparation, and proactive mapping of each phase of a project. We consider who’s affected, who needs to be involved, the interdependencies, what competing demands there are, risks and mitigations, the costs, the communications, the sponsors – all facets that help people deliver good outputs and outcomes.

From managing local initiatives through to delivering global programmes, the world of project management is exciting and impactful. And do we sell it? Not well enough. Ours is a profession which is crucial and yet invisible, like infrastructure – you notice it when it’s not there! So, if we’re not engaging with minoritised communities, they’ll have little if any knowledge that this sector exists.

One of our tasks is to be more intentional about reaching out to a wider audience. Using community engagement/outreach and stakeholder mapping – tools that are part of our project management armoury – is just as useful and important in our efforts to attract greater diversity. Alongside fairs at the top universities, we can extend/expand our reach to other universities and further education colleges; we can increase apprenticeships. And this doesn’t mean that we are diminishing our standards, but that we are opening our doors wider, so that we’re more confident that we are reaching a breadth of talent.

We also have to be more open to the fact that talent is not monolithic; it comes in many guises. Nor are black communities and ethnic minorities homogenous – there is much diversity within ethnic minorities – and this is important, because one of the ways that we tackle racism is to notice differences among individuals. We need to see individuals – rather than use a default position of grouping people together for our ease. Recognising and respecting difference is a fundamental part of being inclusive and being an active anti‑racist. Denying that you notice race, when we as humans are hardwired to notice difference so quickly that we don’t even think about it, can be seen as disingenuous. You probably would have noticed but feel awkward. Now, in 2022, we need to get over the discomfort, as it is perpetuating negative impacts on black people or anyone who is deemed ‘different’.

We need to build our own competency and confidence and challenge ourselves and each other to do better and be better, if we’re ever going to eradicate racism and any form of discrimination. We need to build a movement in project management using the rigour of its approach and apply it to removing racism and all forms of inequality.

What gets in the way

Part of what can inhibit leaders and decision‑makers in creating better, more open and equal access to opportunities is the fear of difference. The fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, and the fear of being called out for racist behaviour. This fear leads to a tacit complicity with the status quo. So those of us in leadership positions are now tasked with moving from being high on commitment and delegation, to being high on commitment, delivering and role‑modelling.

We, as leaders of big teams, small teams or huge programmes, need to do the work, to educate ourselves on the barriers, the systems and processes that maintain and reinforce built‑in biases and inequalities. For instance, we can challenge ourselves and be explicit and intentional about creating a team that is diverse. We can reject homogenous shortlists and limited choice. We can train hiring managers to recruit in inclusive ways. And we can work in an inclusive way.

We can also review our processes and policies to take out bias – in the qualifications we say we want, the academic institutions that we favour or the length of experience we prefer. We can look at performance review data, disciplinaries, grievances and dismissals and identify likely discrepancies. We can create and reiterate the narrative about why anti‑racism supports our projects, programmes and businesses. All the evidence indicates that there is profitability in having ethnic diversity – so why would we not want to benefit?

We need to acknowledge the lived experiences of black professionals. They are often overqualified and underemployed, less likely to have access to major projects and therefore less likely to gain experiences that might stand them in good stead for future projects or programmes. Some cultural norms by way of interacting and networking may be different and therefore go unrecognised. And ways of contributing may also be different, and these features require team leaders to be open to working in different ways; be more culturally competent; use more emotional intelligence; and still the judgments that we may make automatically and be prepared to give people a chance.

These inequalities do not happen by chance and the sooner we take responsibility for them, the better. They are a consequence of traditional systems and behaviours that persist today and have served a few and disengaged many.

Time to do the work

The changes needed are not the fixing of black colleagues; remember, they tend to be overqualified. The real work is that we fix ourselves as programme and project leaders; we stop making assumptions, and we create inclusive environments. We build a better understanding and appreciation of different people from different backgrounds. We become more proactive in seeking out diversity and being inclusive. We initiate conversations about difference, demonstrating an empathetic, positive curiosity. We enable and encourage those around us to do the same. And we challenge those whose actions militate against what we’re trying to achieve. It is and has always been in our gift – and now it is time that we share that gift of opportunity more widely and access the talent that often goes ignored.

The work includes taking responsibility for the decisions we make; and owning the areas that we need to develop in if we are to genuinely create more level playing fields without unnecessary barriers and impediments.

We need to do the self‑development work as inclusive leaders. We can read, we can talk to people – there is a wealth of resources available to help us improve our individual approach. We need to reject limited shortlists and systems that reinforce inequality. We need to encourage those who have traditionally and systematically been excluded to take up the opportunities, and we need to be inclusive when creating project teams and notice who is and isn’t there.

It is time we get on with the work. The data, evidence, anecdotes and experience of minority communities are not new. We need greater ownership of when we as individuals have not acted at our best and the consequences for those around us. Working hard to address racism and the skills required will benefit all people. Because when we do that, we will hit that sweet spot of people feeling valued, being able to be more creative, finding solutions and tapping into innovation and alternative ways of work, and discretionary effort, where people are more efficient and effective and drive even better project and programme delivery.

The APM Salary and Market Trends Survey 2021 showed that:

27% of Gen Z respondents were from a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background
35% of BAME professionals say that revising recruitment processes and policies will drive diversity and inclusion
And while BAME project professionals are increasing in number, their average salary is slightly lower than the overall average (£45,000 v £47,500) and falls well below the average for white professionals (£45,000 v £52,500)