CEOs Don't Wear Afros: Exploring the Justification-Suppression of Prejudice Against Black Women in the Workplace

Bukun F. Adegbembo, The University of Western Ontario

Abstract

There have been numerous cases where Black women have been disparaged for wearing their natural hair or Afrocentric hairstyles in the workplace. While some have argued that such mistreatment was due to racism, others have stated that it was a case of not adhering to a professional dress code. In line with the justification-suppression model of prejudice, this research investigated whether prejudice against Black women in the workplace is expressed when they wear Afrocentric hairstyles as this allows the bias to be justified under the guise of normative standards of professionalism. Our pilot and main study showed that the Black target woman with Afrocentric hairstyles was generally rated less favorably than the Black target woman with socially conforming hairstyles, but more favorably than the White target woman with non-socially conforming hairstyles. Therefore, the findings do not provide support for the application of the justification-suppression model of prejudice against Black women with Afrocentric hairstyles in the workplace.