Across The Pond Talk

You’re in the room, but you’re not at ease. You’re asked to represent “diversity,” but rarely resourced to lead real change. For many women of colour, being the ‘only one’ in senior spaces doesn’t always feel like progress it feels like pressure. When inclusion is symbolic rather than systemic, leadership becomes a stage, not a seat of influence.

Organisations often equate visible diversity with meaningful inclusion. But visibility without structural support leads to tokenism, isolation and emotional exhaustion. You’re asked to speak on behalf of a community, correct biases, sit on every “inclusive” panel and still deliver KPIs. This unpaid emotional labour is packaged as opportunity, while your white peers advance without carrying the same cultural weight.

This has become even more apparent following the public dismantling of DEI initiatives by high-profile figures such as President Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk (via his acquisition and rebranding of Twitter/X and role in DOGE). Their vocal rejection of DEI programmes framing them as unnecessary or divisive has sent a ripple effect through corporate boardrooms globally. In the U.S., the Department of Justice under Trump de-prioritised workplace equity efforts, while in the UK and Europe, several major firms have quietly rolled back diversity programmes in fear of political backlash or “culture war” fatigue.

The result? An affirmation of what many women of colour suspected all along, that inclusion was being treated as a tick-box exercise rather than a strategic commitment. The retreat from DEI has left those who were already doing the heavy lifting even more exposed, unsupported and disillusioned.

Dr. Kecia Thomas, a pioneer in the study of occupational tokenism, warns that visibility without voice is a trap. Her work shows that women of colour who are “the only” are more likely to be scrutinised, interrupted and burdened with cultural translation duties. A 2023 Catalyst report found that 58% of women of colour in executive roles reported feeling pressure to over-perform just to prove they belong, with Black women experiencing the highest levels of hypervisibility stress.

In the UK higher education sector, similar patterns emerge. A 2022 Advance Higher Education report found that although women of colour are increasingly present in academic roles, they remain disproportionately underrepresented in senior leadership less than 1% of all professors in UK universities are Black women. The Runnymede Trust's report on racial inequalities in academia highlights how women of colour are often expected to lead EDI work without formal recognition, while also being denied mentorship and promotion opportunities. These pressures compound the emotional toll of being highly visible but institutionally unsupported.

The Cost of Overexposure and Under-support

A growing body of research highlights the emotional and strategic cost of being the ‘only one’ in the room. According to the Fawcett Society, women of colour in leadership are twice as likely to experience being undermined at work and significantly more likely to feel pressure to downplay aspects of their identity to succeed. The 2023 Lean In and McKinsey Women in the Workplace report adds that 40% of Black women feel they are frequently the only one of their race or gender in professional settings creating a persistent strain on visibility, voice, and mental wellbeing.

Being the ‘only one’ in the room often means:

• Constant code-switching to make others comfortable

• Overworking to counter assumptions of incompetence

• Isolation from informal networks and sponsor relationships

• Being the default DEI advisor without consent or credit

As businesses evolve toward inclusive branding and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments, representation has become optics but optics without equity is performance. True innovation comes from cultures where women of colour are not just invited to the table, but empowered to reshape it. This requires power-sharing, intentional sponsorship and the dismantling of legacy behaviours masked as meritocracy.

The 2017 McGregor-Smith Review, led by Baroness Ruby McGregor-Smith, revealed that the UK economy could gain £24 billion annually by ensuring BME individuals progress in the workplace at the same rate as their white counterparts. Her review made bold recommendations around transparency, board-level diversity sponsorship and target-driven accountability.

Yet, post-pandemic, many of these recommendations remain under-implemented raising questions about how much has truly changed in practice. Token appointments have increased, but tangible investment in infrastructure, allyship and accountability remains patchy. As organisations navigate hybrid work, AI and post-COVID recovery, the challenge is clear, will inclusion be a performance or a principle?

Leadership Exercise:

• Self-Audit: Write down three ways you’ve been asked to “perform” diversity at work. Which of these adds value to your leadership and which drain it?

• Boundary Practice: Draft one clear sentence you can use when asked to take on emotional or DEI labour that doesn’t serve your role e.g., “I’d like to see this responsibility formally acknowledged and resourced if I’m to take it forward.”

• Ally Activation: Identify a colleague or senior leader you trust. Have a conversation this month about shared accountability for inclusion. Don’t carry it all build your coalition.

In closing, diversity without dignity is not inclusion and without safety, it becomes self-erasure. Neuroscience tells us that when women of colour internalise exclusionary work environments, their stress responses remain chronically activated. The amygdala our brain's threat detection centre fires repeatedly, creating an environment of hypervigilance. Over time, this leads to reduced executive functioning, emotional burnout and a decline in risk-taking key traits for bold leadership. The result? Talent contraction, not transformation.

But the real burden shouldn't rest on the shoulders of the marginalised. It’s the organisation’s culture, not the individual, that needs rewiring. Until systems are redesigned to acknowledge lived experience, respect cultural identity and re-balance power, inclusion will continue to fall short.

Organisations must go beyond optics and embed:

• Executive accountability for equity, not just representation

• Sponsor-driven advancement for women of colour across sectors

• Shared DEI ownership so inclusion isn’t outsourced to the marginalised

• Safe, peer-affirming spaces to recalibrate when visibility becomes too heavy to carry alone

Because being ‘the first’ should never mean being the last or being left behind.

Like, comment and tag a woman who has had to carry more than her job title.

If you’ve ever felt visible but not valued, ask yourself what would leadership look like if it didn’t require performance?

What kind of ally, mentor, or sponsor could make that vision real? You don’t have to prove you belong by bearing the weight of broken systems.

Challenge someone today to co-create a leadership space where authenticity leads and support is structured, not symbolic.