Paying the cultural tax

The murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota in May 2020 caused something of a racial awakening across corporate North America. Companies everywhere added equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) programs to address racial biases.

Businesses had good intentions. But four years later, many of their programs have inadvertently hurt the very employees they intended to support. That’s because minority workers are usually expected to do the heavy lifting on workplace EDI.

Eddy Ng, Smith Professor of Equity and Inclusion in Business, has experienced this phenomenon first-hand. Before joining Smith’s faculty in 2021, Ng worked at a U.S. university. There, he was asked to help with EDI efforts. “Oftentimes, organizations don’t really have an EDI specialist on staff, so they look around and they generally tap into those they think are suitable to take on roles like that,” he explains.

As one of only four or five non-while faculty within his school, and an experienced EDI researcher, Ng felt he had to step up. The work was time-consuming and took him away from his research. The polarizing nature of the topic also meant that he dealt with backlash and microaggressions from some peers.

He knew the importance and value of what he was doing, but it took a personal and professional toll. “It culminated in me being depressed. I didn’t want to go into work to face microaggressions and hostility,” he recalls. “It’s really hard to do work like that when you have active resistance, and when you’re the only person willing to do it.”

What Ng experienced is called “cultural taxation.” For many readers, the term might be new. However, it was coined in 1994 by Stanford University professor Amado Padilla to describe the expectation for people of minority groups to serve as ethnic representatives and unofficial diversity consultants. Its prevalence has only increased as EDI efforts have become table stakes for companies.

Adding the tax

In an ideal world, every company has a critical mass of diverse employees willing to support EDI efforts. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality. So firms mostly rely on a small group of minority employees to do the work. “It’s a form of ‘conscription’ because they can’t avoid this burden,” Ng says.

These employees are expected to support organizational needs by providing racial, cultural and gender representation, and to share their knowledge and expertise, be it on boards or committees, at events or in mentorship capacities. It’s invisible work that goes over and above their regular jobs. “This is a tax that minority employees are expected to pay to demonstrate good citizenship, and it’s a form of labour that is not demanded or expected of white employees,” Ng notes.

EDI topics are often poorly understood and undervalued within organizations. Consequently, the work in this area is time-consuming, mentally exhausting and takes minority employees’ focus away from their personal and professional development. It can also be emotionally painful and draining, which can impact the employee’s health and career mobility. “The cultural tax can be a silent killer of careers,” Ng says.

Tax relief

So how can companies make progress on EDI objectives, while easing cultural taxation? Ng suggests three steps to get started.

First, set limits on the amount of EDI service work expected of your minority employees. Let them do the jobs they were hired for. EDI service work is tough and emotionally exhausting. It’s stressful and can lead to burnout. Relieving cultural taxation lets underrepresented employees dedicate their time and talent to the work they were hired to do, which can help their careers flourish.

“This is a tax that minority employees are expected to pay to demonstrate good citizenship”

Second, reward and even pay diverse employees for their EDI work. Think about it: If EDI programs are valuable to a firm (and they are), shouldn’t minority workers receive something for making them a success? Another option is to bring in external expertise instead of relying on employees to work for free. Many academic institutions offer online resources for business leaders, and EDI consultants can also help.

Third, get everyone involved in EDI at work. In other words, both underrepresented and represented employees should take part. Not only does fair representation mean minority workers aren’t shouldering the burden of EDI alone, but dominant group members, such as white employees, also gain what’s called “contextual experience,” says Ng. They develop an understanding of both the intellectual and emotional cost of EDI work and their own privilege.

Of course, sometimes minority employees simply need to say “no” to taking part in one more corporate EDI initiative, “Until you say no, employers will always rely on and ask you,” Ng says. And their colleagues need to step up too, he adds, because saying no isn’t easy, and underrepresented employees may feel pressure to say yes.

Ng’s advice? If you see someone being put on the spot to serve on a committee over and over, speak up. “EDI itself will not end. It’s like climate change, it’s like solving world hunger. I don’t bemoan that, but I feel like we can share the workload.”