The share of Black representation in hospitality industry leadership positions has plateaued over the past few years, with only incremental growth in overall top-level roles, according to a report by the nonprofit Castell Project.
For the 2022 Black Representation in Hospitality Industry Leadership report, the Castell Project reviewed 671 hotel company websites and found that 11% of those sites listed Black executives, down 5% from 2019 and on par with 2020 levels.
Since 2019, Black representation in director through CEO level positions in the hospitality industry has only marginally increased, from 1.6% to 2% — the Black population in the U.S. is 13.4%. Within that 2%, positions in human resources account for 28%, meaning executive opportunities in fields such as food and beverage, construction and development have been hard to come by for Black candidates.
“Black representation in leadership for the public face of the hospitality industry is not making the gains necessary to show opportunity to Black employees in most companies,” the report states.
Peggy Berg, Castell Project founder and president, said efforts to portray hospitality companies as diverse in advertisements and websites has increased, but it hasn’t resulted in an uptick of Black executives. She said Black employees need to see examples of people who look like them in leadership positions so they know there’s an opportunity to move up.
“Honestly, I was hoping we would be making progress faster,” she said.
Stagnant Growth
According to Seramount’s Pledge to Progress report, which is cited in the Castell Project’s report, one in six Black employees are skeptical that progress is being made in regard to corporate companies fighting racism and injustice within the organization.
The lack of substantial growth in Black representation at the leadership level has led to skepticism of whether any meaningful progress has been made. Valerie Ferguson, director of lodging experience, planning and integration for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, said improving the optimism of workers starts with employees seeing more representation.
“From an industry perspective, we’re still not seeing African American, Hispanic, Asian American — people of color at the corporate senior levels or the general manager level in a way that makes a difference to a young leader," she said. "If you don’t see representation, you don’t see the possibilities for advancement."
Larry Crosby, general manager at The Foundry Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, said a lack of representation in leadership roles is one of the main reasons that workers in the hospitality industry have become discouraged with the advancement of people of color.
“A lot of people will work in the range or the realm of a place that they feel comfortable with,” he said. “You wonder if you're going to be given the same chances of failure that other people may have with other ethnicities, [because] it's one thing to be given an opportunity and that's great, but are you going to have an opportunity to see it through like other colleagues of other ethnicities or races?”
One way to provide opportunities for generally overlooked candidates is to be open to internal promotions and prioritizing qualities such as intangibles rather than experience, Crosby said.
It’s on the leadership staff to be innovative with the staffing model and provide new opportunities to build the foundation of a more diverse leadership team, he said.
By providing new opportunities, "inherently, you start to see people rise to the top and you'll be able to cultivate leadership of other ethnicities or backgrounds, races, genders, etc., but you've got to be able to create the opportunity first,” he said.
Ferguson also said more needs to be done to cultivate talent at entry level.
“There must be empathy for understanding who you have at your ground level. This is where we forge our future leaders and you can't just recognize and develop people that just look like you," she said. "If you want a diverse organization, then you have the power to make it diverse. It doesn't happen overnight, but with universal commitment, you can make a significant difference.”
Improving DEI Efforts
Of the 95% of corporate executives who answered that they are committed to helping their company fight racism and injustice within their organization, 79% said the focus and attention of diversity, equity and inclusion is "blown out of proportion," and 33% said they feel forced to support their company in its efforts to fight racism and injustice.
The inconsistency in their responses and the lack of progress being made shows that while top leaders will insist upon being stewards for change, their methodology of creating that change is set up for failure. The responsibility to create a system and culture that aligns with the company’s efforts starts with a hands-on approach at the CEO level, Ferguson said.
“In my estimation, if you really want to make cognitive change and profound change, it has to come from that commitment all the way at the top that says, ‘Hey, I’m going to pop in and observe the change you’re seeking. What is really happening in terms of diverse leadership development?’" she said. "When you’re reviewing your quarterly results, questions should also include, ‘What are you doing with diversity and inclusion, and what am I seeing?’”
Crosby said these efforts need to be intentional, and hiring executives need to be aware of their own unintentional biases that may steer them toward a less diverse candidate.
“A lot of it is ensuring that you do your best to become a more well-rounded individual and making sure that the people you surround yourself with are more rounded and more apt to dealing with people of different backgrounds and different cultures, races, genders, you name it. That’s what you really have to do. Let’s start with the individuals who are at the top,” he said.
Extra Obstacles for Women Executives
Although Black women account for 2% of director roles compared to 0.7% of Black men, Black women only account for 0.1% of CEO/president roles compared to 0.8% of Black men.
The stark decrease in representation of Black women the higher the position indicates yet another barrier. Ferguson said the qualifications for high leadership roles should be the ability to contribute in a meaningful way, yet Black women are overlooked because of implicit biases from those hiring.
“Oftentimes until you complete a significant task, they don’t even see you. No matter what you’re doing consistently, they don’t see you,” she said.
Ferguson said that unfortunately, the industry forces Black women to figure out ways to overcome the biases at the executive level rather than the other way around. She said one method is to build a network of sponsors who can vouch for you in the hiring process.
“You’ve got to do everything that you can to work around [the biases] and ensure that you have a seat at the table and you are heard. If not, you will remain stagnant," she said.
In the long run, Ferguson said both the companies and the employees endure a loss when diversity isn’t extended to Black women.
“There are unfortunately business environments that are not ready for change. Where they suffer is not only the lack of creativity in their products, but in the lack of relevance demonstrated in their product and services, which will ultimately culminate in market deterioration and failure,” she said.