To Speak or Not to Speak? The Impact of Racialized and Gendered Stereotypes on Black Women's Engagement in Employee Voice

Abstract

Employee voice is critical for organizational functioning and improvement. While the literature has examined various motivators and inhibitors of employee voice, research has overlooked the impact of societal and identity-related factors on employee voice, such as stereotypes. The current study examined how racialized and gendered stereotypes, specifically the angry black woman (ABW) and strong black woman (SBW) stereotypes, manifest in different ways for Black women and whether these manifestations have differing impacts on their engagement in employee voice. I hypothesized that the ABW stereotype will negatively relate to employee voice and that the SBW stereotype will positively relate to employee voice and that these two relationships are moderated by self-monitoring. This study also proposed six manifestations of the ABW and SBW stereotypes: three sources (self, relational, societal) and two foci (self, Black women in general) and that these manifestations will have differing impacts on voice. Three hundred and fifty employed Black women were recruited to participate in an online survey administered via Prolific. It was found that the six manifestations were distinct and that the ABW stereotype generally had a negative relationship with employee voice and the SBW stereotype generally had a positive relationship with employee voice. Self-monitoring was shown to not be a moderator in the stereotype-voice relationships. Overall, this study can aid researchers and practitioners in understanding how racialized and gendered stereotypes impact Black women’s experiences around voicing at work and effectively supporting Black women employees when they voice their opinions in the workplace.