Mentorship is the most powerful tool for individual growth and organizational optimization. And for communities that have been historically marginalized, mentorship is especially important to accelerate success.
Upnotch™ compiled data about the state of the workforce for members of the African diaspora. The data, collated with experiences from members of the global community at Upnotch™, offers diverse perspectives about the challenges that workers of African descent face, as well as solutions to overcome them through mentorship.
Obstacles faced by professionals of the African diaspora
The barriers professionals from many communities face to achieving success are many and complex. The obstacles professionals of African descent face are so many, that discussions of this topic could fill volumes and still be incomplete. Furthermore, data regarding certain aspects of identity and the labor force has only recently been collected, or is incomplete – giving us insufficient information about the true, current state of the challenges some communities face - in particular, individuals who experience multiple forms of otherness.
One of the most complete sets of studies about the experience of professionals of the African diaspora comes from McKinsey & Company. In addition to compiling data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Census Bureau, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, McKinsey surveyed 24 companies representing 3.7 million US employees in order to understand the experiences of workers of African descent better.Unfortunately, McKinsey has predicted that with our current trajectory, it will take about 95 years for Black employees to reach talent parity in the private sector in the United States (Source).
McKinsey’s analysis yielded 10 key challenges which Upnotch™ has consolidated and supplemented into five major categories:
Higher unemployment, higher attrition
According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States, Black workers have the highest unemployment rates. In 2021, the Bureau reported that the overall unemployment rate for the United States averaged 5.3 percent, though rates varied among racial and ethnic groups. The unemployment rate averaged 8.6 percent for Blacks; 8.2 percent for American Indians and Alaska Natives; 8.2 percent for people of Two or More Races; 6.9 percent for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders; 6.8 percent for Hispanics; 5.0 percent for Asians; and 4.7 percent for Whites (Source).
Post-incarceration, Black workers are almost twice as likely to experience unemployment than white workers who have also been incarcerated. (Source)
Further, McKinsey found in a survey of 279 North American companies, that workers of African descent experience higher attrition rates at every level, from entry-level to executive roles (Source).
Difficulty finding high-paying jobs
The difficulty of finding high-paying jobs for professionals in some communities is two fold: workers in some communities are overrepresented in low-wage industries and underrepresented in fast-growing, high-wage industries.
Across all industries – private and public – black workers are more likely to make $30,000 annually than their peers (Source). 43% of Black private-sector workers make less than $30,000 compared to 29% of the rest of the private sector (Source). In 2019, the typical (median) black worker earned 24.4% less per hour than the typical white worker (Source). The Black pay gap alone accounts for $2.7 trillion in the U.S. economy (Source).
Gender, compounded with race, also affects income. Black men, for example, earn less than their male counterparts from all other racial groups in the United States (Source).
HR business partner, people advocate, and Upnotch™ member Alyssia Kum noted, “People that are othered always end up on the lower end of the salary spectrum. It happens all the time, even after test after tests to ensure there are ‘fail-safe’ efforts to eliminate biases. If there's a person involved, there's going to be a bias.”
One reason why Black workers may be compensated less, is because they are overrepresented in industries that on-average, can be lower paying.According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), as of December 2021, the racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. labor force was approximately 63.9% White, 12.9% Black or African American, 17.9% Hispanic or Latino, 7.0% Asian, and 5.2% other races (Source).
However, professionals of African descent are twice as likely to be service workers or laborers— and 25% less likely to be managers or professionals (Source). 45% of Black private-sector workers are employed in healthcare, retail, and hospitality (accommodations and food service). In retail, 73% of Black workers make less than $30,000 annually while in hospitality, 84% make less than $30,000. (Source)
The corollary to overrepresentation in typically lower-paying industry, is that Black workers are underrepresented in fast growing, high-wage industries, and in particular sectors like information technology, professional services, and financial services (Source).
Black households could lose $350 billion in tech job wages by 2030, according to a McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility analysis. The wage gap in tech roles is expected to grow nearly 37%, from 2023 to 2030, resulting in $51.3 billion in annual lost wages (Source). Even after securing employment in competitive, high-paying STEM industries, they do not feel supported. Black workers in STEM are about four times as likely as white workers in STEM to say their workplace doesn’t pay enough attention to increasing racial and ethnic diversity, according to the Pew Research Center.
Difficulty with career advancement
With more difficulties securing employment, particularly in higher-paying industries, not surprisingly – though very sadly – Black workers have difficulty advancing their careers.
As of November 2023, there are 8 Black CEOs of Fortune 500 companies compared to 4 in 2020 (Source), however, there should be no fewer than 60 at parity with the US population (Source). In the U.S. overall, though 12.9% of the workforce identifies as Black or African American, only 3.8% of CEOs identify as such.
Lack of trust, allyship, sponsorship, and mentorship
Barriers that workers face in and out of the workplace, when not addressed by employers, lead to an overall lack of trust, allyship, and sponsorship, and mentorship.
In the U.S., black employees feel they are less rewarded for their contributions than their white counterparts (38% vs 51%), are less likely to feel that there are opportunities for all employees to be successful (50% vs 67%), are less likely to feel that they are treated fairly (56% vs 77%), are less likely to feel that their employers accept diverse perspectives (56% vs 80%), are less likely to feel there is trust and respect between employees of different backgrounds (55% vs 82%), less likely to feel encouraged to be themselves (64% vs 81%), and less likely to feel they can share about themselves and their lives outside of work (60% vs 79%) (Source).
A workplace culture where employees do not feel supported and valued leads to decreased employee satisfaction, lower productivity, higher attrition rates, lower profits, ultimately impacting the business’s bottom line. Furthermore, organizations that do not foster a general culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion are unlikely to provide the allyship, sponsorship, and mentorship that employees need to perform their best – both in their roles with the company, and throughout their careers.
Compounded onlyness or otherness
Study after study shows that when workers feel multiple forms of onlyness or otherness, they experience more hardship. McKinsey & Company has shown that when employees are the only person on a team or in a meeting of their particular race, gender, or sexual identity, that stress increases due to feelings of otherness or onlyness. When employees feel onlyness because of multiple aspects of their identity, they feel even more pressure to perform. For example, LGBTQ+ women of color have reported feeling increased onlyness, as well as increased difficulty in the workplace and with career advancement because they experience difference, and as a result, prejudice, in several ways (Source).
The personal experiences of Upnotch™ members corroborates McKinsey’s data. Cairo Amani, who is a woman of African descent and also a member of the LGBTQ+ community reminds us, “The more you experience difference the harder it is to love yourself and see yourself as worthy of being in those spaces.”
Overcoming systemic barriers through mentorship
Tackling any systemic issues requires a concerted, multi-pronged approach in order to create lasting change. Because mentorship is such a powerful, highly-flexible, infinitely adaptable relationship that can serve both individuals and organizations, it is one of the most sustainable incubators for long-term change to eliminate systemic barriers for Black professionals.
Increase job placement, lower attrition
Since communities from the African diaspora can experience higher unemployment rates, mentorship can be essential for workers at all stages of their career, though particularly, when just entering the workforce.
Rachelle Adams, an HR and Operations professional and Upnotch™ member, explains, that she often finds, “people don't have the technical tools that they need to be able to show up in interviews. Or, they’re settling for jobs and not being confident of who they are when it comes time to make decisions about their pay and the impact.”
Mentors, however, can offer guidance, support, and assistance throughout the application process – all out of generosity and at no cost to the mentee.
HR professional Alyssia Kum, noted, “When I was in the job market, I could not believe the amount of people that were just so willing and like all levels of people in their career like from VP down to like someone who is just starting out, they were all willing to pitch in and help in whatever way they could.”
Kum said that when seeking new opportunities, once she did secure interviews, she was unsure if, “I was doing something wrong or if there was actually something that I couldn't change that was affecting outcomes,” related to her personal identity and biases that interviewers might have.
Mentorship also helped Kum reassess her resume and advocate for herself more accurately and powerfully. Speaking with members of her network with similar backgrounds, she realized she needed to rewrite her personal narrative and resume so that she could “self-describe my experiences in ways that reflect actual accomplishments without feeling the need to downplay success. Often, black women don’t give themselves enough credit.”
Mentorship programs also contribute to employee retention and engagement by providing support, guidance, and development opportunities that enhance job satisfaction and commitment. When employees feel valued, supported, and connected to their peers and mentors, they are more likely to remain with the organization and contribute their talents effectively. Mentorship programs increased retention rates for minorities and women from 15% to 38% (Source).
Increase access to higher paying jobs
Earned income has individual, cultural, and generational effects. And because historically, professionals of the African diaspora have statistically earned less than counterparts of other racial and ethnic backgrounds, they may be more likely to suffer money trauma. Money trauma is an experience that conditions many behaviors personally, as well as how one envisions and embarks on their career path.
Cairo Amani, a customer Success lead, career coach, and Upnotch™ member explains, “Money trauma runs deep in our community and so I do think that like one of the things mentorship can do is help you be better at having those conversations around money – asking for a raise, asking for a promotion, negotiating your salary, those sorts of things.”
“There's a lot of people who are just in the habit of just taking what they're offered,” she continued. “Many black women have money trauma, because we grew up in a mindset of scarcity and not one of abundance. We grew up working on survival and not a place of love.”
Alyssia Kum said that mentorship has helped her shift her mindset so that she feels more confident asking for her worth because of the support she has had from her mentors. “If you're negotiating for something, you need to negotiate really like you're a white man. Ask for the ceiling and let them tell you no,” said Kum. “And I think that's really hard. I still struggle with that because I don't want to lose the opportunity. That's always what's in the back of my head.”
While asking to be paid your worth is difficult in any industry, entering high-paying, fast-growing industries can be particularly challenging for certain individuals – and mentorship can help eliminate some of those challenges.
Shade Alcine is a Territory Account Manager at HUMAN, a cybersecurity company that safeguards enterprises and internet platforms against bot attacks, fraud, and account abuse. She said, “My mentorship journey started about the same when I entered the tech space just trying to navigate because there are a lot of people that did not look like me.” However, with the help of her mentors, Alcine has landed two promotions in three years within the same company.
Similarly, Lisa Brown, a passionate Sales Leader and Entrepreneur with over 30 years of dynamic experience in software sales, also relied on mentorship when trying to enter tech.
“I've literally been the only black woman or black person in a lot of my professions. And I'm okay with that,” Brown said. Being the only person in the room like you can be alienating, even for those exuding self confidence, especially when entering new social or professional industries.
“It wasn't until I went into the tech space that I found a mentor. When I worked for Oracle, I had a director, an African American gentleman, who happened to be my mentor along the way, and we’re still very good friends to this day.” Brown’s mentor helped her navigate the culture at Oracle, and more generally – working in tech at a time when women and women of color had more obstacles to success.
“Mentorship has played such a pivotal role in my success and where I'm at today. And I believe mentorship will continue to help a certain group of young people that may not have the opportunities or the exposure.”
“Without having mentors and as a black person and a black woman and corporate America, I go through a whole bunch of things that someone that is my counterpart that's a white woman – even though she's a woman in technology – will never go through. The challenges, obstacles, and how much harder I have to work to be successful are very different.”
Increase opportunities for career advancement
Mentorship can be essential for professionals to find employment in any sector, as well as to change careers or advance them.
By providing guidance, feedback, and advocacy, mentors can empower mentees to develop the skills, confidence, and visibility needed to pursue leadership roles and excel in their careers that might not otherwise be available. Mentorship programs increased minority representation in management from 9% to 24% (Source).
As an HR professional, Rachelle Adams sees how race and ethnicity affects representation at all levels of one’s career, and has also personally benefited from advancing her own career through mentorship.
“Early in my journey, mentorship showed up where I was being placed into rooms that I didn't think or see I could see myself in,” Adams said. “But I had mentors in leadership roles early in my career in human resources who saw that I had potential to do more. I would ask for more, or mentors would give me stretch assignments to take things off their plate and allow me to take the lead, while also telling me: ‘I’m here to help you and support you along the way.’”
Adams benefited from one mentor who allowed her to run her department one day a week, and another who “completely advocated for me to take their position as they retired, which we don't see a lot of these days.”
Increase success for founders and entrepreneurs
Of all professional leaders, founders and entrepreneurs often require the most support to ensure their success, and as a result, are the best candidates to benefit from mentorship. Mentors can accelerate the success of their mentees by helping them solve real-world problems in real time, using their direct experience, knowledge, insider insights, and expertise.
Cairo Amani explained, “Mentorship is so important to get you out of your head,” and deal with imposter syndrome, “because you have the chance to connect with someone who has already accomplished something that you want. And you should build a community of that. You should build a community of people who have things you want because that's inspiring and motivational.”
Some Black professionals, because of historic marginalization, have not been conditioned to see themselves as founders or executives. They can benefit greatly, often, from the encouragement of mentors from within or outside of their communities in order to realize and actualize their potential.
Rebecca Morgan, CEO of Nisha Media Leadership Solutions, explained, “Years ago a couple of white, cisgender. Jewish executives stopped me and said, ‘You ever thought about starting your own company? You'd be really good at it!’ Let me just say that encounter opened up a door that I hadn't thought about. I had already come to the point where I loved executive director work and I loved working with nonprofits, but I hadn't made the next step. I had been faced with so much, so many isms – racism being the worst of them, but also sexism and nepotism.” Later, one of those individuals became a mentor to Morgan.
Years later, another mentor with a different background and lived experiences than her own offered Morgan similar advice. She encountered “a white southern blond woman telling me, ‘You need to consider a career change. Time for you to become an executive director!’ That was gobsmacking for me. No one had ever come to me and said time for you to move up”
“These are moments that change our lives,” Morgan explained. “And I think navigating those unique challenges for black women specifically. I told her, ‘nobody's ever mentored me before.’ She was flabbergasted.”
Her mentor asked, ‘how is that possible?’ Morgan responded, “Because I'm a Black woman in America. I don't think people assume we're going to ask for help when we need it. It's a culture shift.”
Increase trust, allyship, and support
Of all the areas that mentorship can improve for Black professionals and organizations, increasing trust, allyship, and support is one of the most important, though also the most difficult to measure outside of direct surveys (such as McKinsey’s reports mentioned above).
While mentorship can bridge gaps, bridges go in both directions.
In best case scenarios, mentorship not only assists the mentee, but the mentor as well. In the case of organizational development, mentorship has the potential not only to improve the experiences of the mentorship program participants, but the company as a whole through open dialogue, exchange, and proactive steps towards building more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces. Even mentees have the opportunity to educate and improve organizations through the incubator of mentorships.
One powerful example of bridge mentorship that goes both ways is through an experience from an Upnotch™ member Tony Boyle. With over a decade of human resource experience working in various industries and supporting Fortune 500 organizations and start-ups, Boyle is currently Sr. Manager of State of NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
He recalls, “There was this heightened anxiety within the black community and when Black Lives is at its peak. And during that time, I felt that I wasn't getting the support that I needed for my leaders, understanding the experience and the trauma that I was feeling even though showing up to work every single day."
“And I expressed that to my leaders at the time – that leadership never took the time to sit down with myself or my peers and ask us how we’re dealing with the situation today. You never really asked, ‘do we need some time to ourselves, or can we provide you resources to deal with what's happening?’”
After discussing his concerns with one mentor, Boyle said she “felt very sad that she overlooked it, but mainly took action in it and addressed it. She wasn't really experiencing what we were experiencing because it was way not within her scope of life. But I'm experiencing this every single day, even when I just go to the grocery store. We had a meeting, she gave me resources. She is one of the best leaders I had, and she was a Caucasian women.”
Increase diversity, equity, and inclusion
There is no one single aspect of our identity that defines us, though our multiple identities can affect how we are perceived and treated in the workplace.
Sadly, many workers are treated differently because of aspects of themselves that they cannot change. Rachelle Adams, HR professional, remarked that, “There's a lot of people that are also settling from mistreatment and workplaces. For various reasons: race, religion, sex – it's all of it.”
Luckily, mentorship can provide a space for mentors and mentees to learn how to proactively advocate for each other in order to create a people culture that is more diverse, equitable, and inclusive.
“Some of my mentors were also advocates or sponsors,” Adams said reflecting on her own experience as a mentee early in her career. “Occasionally, I would be in meetings where I was not being treated fairly, but they insisted that I was in the room to be seen as an equal to everyone else. They showed me what advocacy looks like in the moment, in the present when something is happening, and how to call out unacceptable behavior.
For those who experience multiple forms of difference, onlyness, or otherness, mentorship is especially essential.
It has helped Cairo Amani, for example with “self confidence and how you show up in a space being the only black person in a room or, for me, being the only black gay person in a room.
She reminds us that there are also “hidden” differences such as religion, or living with mental health conditions or neurodivergence. “Having any kind of neurodivergency can impact you in your career too, especially being in the black community, it goes undiagnosed a lot more, but it can impact the way that your brain operates,” Amani said.
Give back, create change as a mentor
Systemic change requires active participation from members of all communities. We’re stronger together. Most mentees who have benefited from mentorship personally and professionally feel encouraged to give back as mentors to create a culture of change within their industries, in their communities, and globally.
Rachelle Adams, for example, says. “My early mentorships have grown me and shaped me, on where I feel I have to do the same and pay it back to others. It’s important to mentor others who are coming up from behind to be tomorrow’s leaders, and particularly for people that are black and brown. There are less and less black and brown people as you go up the ladder of organizations – no matter the industry.”
ROI of mentorship
Mentorship is the most cost-effective, sustainable solution for overcoming barriers for Black professionals and to create more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplaces.
Most diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) programs are short-lived, insufficient, and performative at best. In 2020, US companies spent $66 billion in financial support and initiatives to combat racism, support Black communities and businesses, and promote racial equity according to the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility (Source).
While some DEI efforts since 2020 helped workers of African descent in the United States, the Wall Street Journal has reported that the state of DEI has regressed. For example, the promotion rates for Black staff was the same in fall 2023 as it was in 2019.
Because mentorship relies on existing human capital, creates a self-sustaining ecosystem of support, and it requires no additional investment, the return-on-investment (ROI) for mentorship programs is hight. For many Black professionals, mentorship is the most cost-effective way compared to alternatives such as hiring coaches to help individuals and teams, or consultants
And for individuals, mentorship provides the most cost effective solution to upskill, gain industry insights, and receive expert advice. 65% of workers in the U.S. of African descent have a high school diploma and may have military or workforce experience, though they do not have a bachelor’s degree (Source).
Uplifting Individuals and Organizations with Upnotch™
The benefits of mentorship are clear for all professionals, especially members of historically marginalized communities. Upnotch™ was created to help every professional find a mentor or be a mentor, and to help organizations be their best by leveraging their people power to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Free, open access
To make mentorship accessible to everyone, access for individuals is completely free. For many, mentorship is the best method to seek support when compared to paid coachings or other learning and development opportunities.
Lisa Brown reflected that, “A lot of black women aren't able to do things because we don't have the financial resources which are also related to systemic issue and challenges. If you don't have money, you can't get to certain places. If you don't have money, you can't get to college.”
Though mentorship is a free alternative that has benefited Brown personally, as well as many, many others – many professionals have not always been able to access mentorship.
HR professional Rachelle Adams reflected, “When I think of mentorship, I also think of access. Many people do not seek out opportunities for mentorship because they just don't know where to go. They don't know where to start.”
Many mentees, when searching for mentorship, share the anxieties that Alyssia Kum had before she found Upnotch™. “I think sometimes we think we’re being a burden to someone who wants to be our mentor or who is our mentor – and that's really not the case!” Mentors help because they want to help, and they are eager to help out of the generosity to give back.
Cairo Amani regrets not seeking mentorship sooner, though is grateful to finally have access to mentors through Upnotch. “In my twenties coming out of college, I really didn't understand the way that this country [the United States] can work. And I think now I'm 35. I've experienced enough in the workplace, that now I feel like I could have probably done this differently and faster and have had a completely different experience.”
“I think like if I had to go at this alone, without mentorship, relaunching my business and trying to figure out how to retire early, I would not be successful in this go ‘round. Without a platform like Upnotch™, it really is hard to know who's willing to give their time,” Amani said. “I love that Upnotch lets you just shop around for exactly what you’re looking for.”
Find the perfect mentor or mentee
Multiple studies indicate mentor-mentee compatibility is crucial for mentorship success. Upnotch™ offers several ways for mentees and mentors to connect, including filtering by career goals, skills, interests, and demographics, and ensures mentorships are well-suited and relevant, which increases the likelihood of successful outcomes.
Mentee selected
Mentors can search for their ideal mentor, filtering by interests, languages, departments, industries, experience, seniority level, title, location, organization, and more.
AI-Matching
Powered by AI, Upnotch™ evaluates optimum mentor-mentee compatibility to provide the best matches.
Admin assigned
Program administrators organizing workplace mentorship programs can manually pair mentors and mentees based upon personal recommendations.
Closed or Open Mentor Pool
Upnotch™ has a global network of mentors and mentees eager to connect. For organizations optimizing their people culture and productivity with Upnotch™, admins can establish who participates in your program and the pool of mentors available. Some programs may want to include only participants internal to their organizations, while others may want to expand mentors available to the global network of leaders on Upnotch™.
Create Communities
Upnotch™ allows individual users to create communities to connect with like-minded professionals, and can also be created around affinity groups based upon race, gender, background, industry, role – or any number of personal identity markers or combination of them.
Upnotch™ also enables organizations to foster inclusive environments through customizable communities, facilitating connections among participants with shared interests and goals. It offers tools for sharing resources, managing access, and linking members with leaders within a global network, all while aligning with organizational branding for workplaces that are seeking institutional mentorship solutions.
A note on terminology
Describing identity is complex. Members of the African diaspora self-describe in a variety of ways including Black, Brown, of African descent, as well as combining various national and ethnic identities using terms such as African American, or Afro-Latino. Because the Upnotch™ members interviewed have diverse national origins, countries of residencies, and personal narratives, we describe all participants as members of the African diaspora, of African descent, or Black for consistency. In other instances, other terms used are taken directly from other studies or members quoted.
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