To be, or not to be…Black: The effects of racial codeswitching on perceived professionalism in the workplace

Abstract

Black people engage in a variety of behaviors to avoid stereotyping and promote a professional image in the workplace. Racial codeswitching is one impression management strategy where Black people adjust their self-presentation to receive desirable outcomes (e.g., perceived professionalism) through mirroring the norms, behaviors, and attributes of the dominant group (i.e., White people) in specific contexts. In this study, we examine whether racial codeswitching enhances perceived professionalism for Black employees. We investigate Black and White participants' perceptions of racial codeswitching and subsequent evaluations of professionalism through manipulating three behaviors (e.g., adjusting style of speech, name selection, hairstyle) of a fictitious Black coworker in two, between-subjects experimental studies using audio and written stimuli. Results indicate that employees who engage in racial codeswitching are consistently perceived as more professional by both Black and White participants compared to employees who do not codeswitch (Studies 1 & 2). We also found that Black participants perceive the non-codeswitching employee as more professional than White participants (Studies 2a & 2b). Black and White participants' evaluation of specific codeswitching behaviors varied with both groups supporting adjustment of speech, opposing adjusting one's name, and diverging on wearing natural hairstyles (Studies 1 & 2). Although racial codeswitching is presented as an impression management strategy, it may reinforce White professional standards and generate social and psychological costs for Black employees. Implications of our work for impression management and impression formation are further discussed.

Introduction

In the film Sorry to Bother You, protagonist Cassius Green struggles to make sales as a telemarketer. He is encouraged by a seasoned Black employee to use his “White voice” when communicating with potential customers, which exponentially improves his sales and career trajectory. Although this film exaggerates the linkage between Cassius's ability to adjust his voice with his work-related success, codeswitching—the temporary “switching on” or adjustment of behaviors to optimize the comfort of others in exchange for a desired outcome ((Anicich and Hirsh, 2017)Cross & Strauss, 1998; Dickens & Chavez, 2017; McCluney, Robotham, Lee, Smith II, & Durkee, 2019; Molinsky, 2007)—has long been a strategy for Black people to excel in White cultural spaces (Carbado & Gulati, 2013; Ibarra, 1995; Roberts, 2005). The presumption that a “White sounding voice” is also a preferred manner of speaking further associates Whiteness with professionalism, creating a dilemma for Black people who desire to be seen as a professional. Previous studies have found that presenting (or pretending to present) one's authentic self enhances career outcomes and work-related well-being (Cha et al., 2019; Klotz et al., 2018; Moore, Lee, Kim, & Cable, 2017; Roulin & Krings, 2020), but members of marginalized groups tend to fare better when they adjust their self-presentation and manage other's perceptions of their stigmatized identity (Ali, Lyons, & Ryan, 2017; Roberts, Cha, & Kim, 2014; Roberts, Settles, & Jellison, 2008). Our paper extends work on impression formation for individuals with visibly stigmatized identities by examining perceptions of racial codeswitching in professional settings. Specifically, we measure intragroup (e.g., Black people) and intergroup (e.g., White people) evaluations of codeswitching and perceptions of professionalism for Black people who do (not) codeswitch in the workplace.

Black employees in majority White spaces benefit from being perceived as a professional in these settings. Professionalism broadly refers to an individual possessing specialized knowledge, character, and capacity to meet the technical and social demands of their profession (Ibarra, 1999; Pratt, Rockmann, & Kaufmann, 2006; Roberts, 2005) and is bestowed upon those who reflect the values and norms of their professional community (Eckert & McConnell-Ginet, 1992). Demonstrating these values and norms extend beyond one's work output into their self-presentation including ways of speaking and communicating, physical appearance, and having interests that symbolize one's membership in the profession (Bell & Nkomo, 2001; Pratt et al., 2006). Being perceived as a professional generates respect in one's field, status, power, and access to networks (Ibarra, 1999; Pratt et al., 2006; Roberts, 2005), making it a desirable outcome for employees in white-collar occupations.

Perceptions of professionalism are enhanced when individuals share similar characteristics with a majority of others in their profession (Ashcraft, 2013; Essed & Goldberg, 2002; Hall, Hall, Galinsky, & Phillips, 2019; Ibarra, 1995). White men in Western countries have historically held the power and authority to shape the norms of professionalism given their overrepresentation in managerial, white-collar occupations (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). Indeed, White men's values and norms come to ‘define’ the occupations that they hold (Ashcraft, 2013; Carton and Rosette, 2011) including their interests and hobbies (e.g., golfing), standards of appearance and dress, dialect and style of speech, and the prevalence of specific names (e.g., John) for individuals in professional spaces (Essed, 2002; Rosette, Leonardelli, & Phillips, 2008; Wolfers, 2015). Individuals from underrepresented groups may feel pressure to adjust their self-presentation in adherence to these norms so that they may access professional spaces and be conceived as a professional (Brown-Iannuzzi, Payne, & Trawalter, 2013; DiTomaso, 2015; Rivera, 2012).

The “effectiveness” of racial codeswitching in professional settings hinges on how well it is received by others. In other words, will observers of codeswitching perceive that these behavioral changes are necessary to exhibit professionalism in a workplace context? We use two experimental paradigms to capture how observers perceive the professionalism of Black employees who either codeswitch or do not codeswitch at work. Studies show that individuals are aware of (and generally dislike) inauthentic displays at work (Grandey, Houston III, & Avery, 2019; Groth, Hennig-Thurau, & Walsh, 2009; Moore et al., 2017), yet the race of the observer may also play a role in these evaluations (Houston III, Grandey, & Sawyer, 2018). Thus, we empirically test whether intragroup observers (e.g., Black people) evaluate specific racial codeswitching behaviors differently than intergroup observers (e.g., White people). Collectively, our work extends scholarship that incorporates a racial lens in impression management research (Dupree & Fiske, 2019; Swencionis, Dupree, & Fiske, 2017), ultimately deepening our understanding of Black people's experiences in social contexts.