The Hidden Gap

A Message to Black Men Navigating the Workplace

If talent determined success in the workplace, Black men would not be earning less, progressing slower and leaving leadership in record numbers.

Across the UK, the numbers tell a story we have lived long before anyone measured it.

Despite progress on diversity, Black men face a persistent disadvantage in pay and progression. Even after controlling for education and occupation, they earn 8–12 per cent less than White men and remain concentrated in lower-paying sectors. Highly qualified Black graduates are 45 per cent less likely to receive job offers than their White peers, creating an early-career bottleneck that depresses lifetime earnings.

The NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard shows that White applicants are far more likely to be appointed from shortlists and only 42 per cent of Black staff believe promotion is fair.

In the Metropolitan Police, Black officers are twice as likely to face misconduct allegations and remain under-represented in senior ranks. These patterns mirror trends in the United States, where Black men hold less than 3 per cent of executive roles and earn approximately 21 per cent less than White workers. The evidence is clear. Systemic barriers, not lack of talent, are driving these gaps.

How This Differs in the United States

While Black men account for roughly 6 per cent of the US population, they hold less than 3 per cent of executive-level roles. Research shows that Black men are more likely to be concentrated in frontline or support positions, limiting access to profit-and-loss responsibilities that drive advancement.

Compounding this, Black men report lower sponsorship rates and fewer opportunities for stretch assignments, both critical levers for progression, while facing higher exposure to bias and microaggressions.

McKinsey warns that without systemic interventions, these disparities will persist, costing organisations both talent and innovation.

These are not isolated incidents. They form a system, a system that shapes how Black men are seen, how they are judged and how far they are allowed to rise. Black men carry talent, responsibility and expectation inside structures that were never designed with them in mind. Every Black man who enters the workplace carries the weight of that system, whether he names it or not.

The Quiet Undermining of Competence

Many Black men recognise the subtle but persistent questioning that shadows their expertise. It appears in requests to “double-check” work that is already correct, hesitation before accepting recommendations, or the assumption that knowledge must be proven repeatedly.

Research from McKinsey’s Race in the Workplace (US) and CIPD reporting on race inclusion and equality of career progression shows that Black men are more likely to have their skills underestimated and their contributions overlooked, even when their qualifications match or exceed those of their peers.

Scholars such as Professor Kehinde Andrews and Dr Jason Arday argue that this is not interpersonal misunderstanding; it is a structural pattern embedded in organisational culture.

 

Practical Responses When It Happens:

• When your competence is subtly questioned (“Are you sure?” loop):

  “Here is the data behind the recommendation, the impact, the risk and how we will measure success. If there is a specific criterion I am missing, name it and I will address it now.”

  (This shifts the conversation from instinct to transparent standards, reducing bias.)

• When a microaggression lands in a meeting:

  “I want to pause on that comment. Here is how it comes across and here is its effect. Let us reframe and return to the work.”

  (This names impact without litigating intent and aligns with evidence-based responses that minimise downstream penalties.)

• When a performance review is vague or non-actionable:

  “Can you translate that into two or three observable behaviours and a results target for the next rating? I will reflect this in my development plan.”

  (This converts ambiguity into measurable standards.)

When competence is questioned, it is rarely about you, it is about a system that struggles to see you clearly. Naming it is the first step to changing it. Then turn doubt into data.  Document, clarify and challenge vague standards. Every response builds both a record and a roadmap for equity.

Scrutiny Without Support

Black men in UK workplaces face a troubling pattern. They are monitored more closely than they are mentored. The Metropolitan Police review revealed that darker-skinned Black staff were more often labelled “confrontational”, while lighter-skinned colleagues were treated more leniently. Similar dynamics appear in corporate environments, where Black men report harsher judgement and faster disciplinary action, bias that research shows has little to do with performance and everything to do with culture.

The NHS Workforce Race Equality Standard again confirms that White applicants are far more likely to be appointed from shortlists and only 42 per cent of Black staff believe promotion is fair. In policing, Black officers are twice as likely to face misconduct allegations and remain under-represented in senior ranks. These patterns mirror US trends, where Black men hold less than 3 per cent of executive roles and earn around 21 per cent less than White workers.

What Leaders Must Do

Publish your data and tie progress to pay. Build sponsorship infrastructure not just mentorship. Treat microaggressions as a performance and risk issue, not a “nice-to-fix”.

The McGregor-Smith Review estimates that the UK economy could gain £24 billion annually from full representation of ethnic minority talent. Transparency and accountability are not optional; they are business-critical.

The Mirage of Progression

Progression often becomes a moving target for Black men. NHS data shows that while Black and minority ethnic staff make up 28.6 per cent of the workforce, they represent only 12.7 per cent of very senior managers. In 80 per cent of trusts, White candidates are still more likely to be appointed from shortlists and only around 42 per cent of Black staff say promotion is fair.

Banding tells the same story. Representation is high at Band 5 (around 42 per cent) but falls sharply to around 12 per cent at Band 9/VSM  evidence of selection systems rewarding promise unevenly.

In the US, the pattern mirrors the UK. Black workers face higher unemployment (5.5 per cent versus 3.3 per cent for White workers, 2023) and a persistent pay gap (approximately 21 per cent less), conditions that slow entry into leadership pipelines.

McKinsey’s Race in the Workplace series documents chronic under-representation at senior levels and weaker access to sponsorship and stretch roles. Federal Reserve research and other studies trace how occupational segregation and promotion bottlenecks depress mobility even when qualifications are similar. This is not a pipeline problem it is gatekeeping that maintains the appearance of fairness while restricting access.

The Psychological Cost of Isolation (UK / US)

Since COVID-19, the mental health burden has intensified for Black men who are often hyper-visible yet lack belonging.

In the UK, NHS workforce data shows minority staff are more than twice as likely as White staff to report discrimination from colleagues and 80 per cent of trusts still appoint White applicants from shortlists at significantly higher rates conditions strongly linked to burnout and disengagement.

In the US, national polling and clinical surveys describe a society grappling with post-pandemic trauma, rising diagnoses, elevated stress markers and deepening loneliness associated with depression and self-harm risk.

Crucially, Black men remain less likely to seek support, shaped by masculine norms around self-reliance and stigma. Empirical research links these norms to poorer health outcomes, while federal data shows Black adults access prescription-based treatment at markedly lower rates than the general population.

While remote and hybrid work briefly reduced exposure to microaggressions, the return to “business as usual” has re-exposed Black professionals to daily slights that fuel anxiety and isolation. One field study found that only 3 per cent of Black professionals felt ready to return on-site (compared with 21 per cent of White peers) precisely because remote work reduced in-person microaggressions.

Add post-COVID stress and the result is I.C.E:

• Isolation (being the only)

• Chronic vigilance (anticipating bias)

• Exhaustion (from persistent microaggressions).

System data (such as WRES), institutional reviews (including the Casey Review) and corporate studies (such as McKinsey’s UK intersectional research) all map the same structural barriers.

Use that evidence as leverage. Publish the numbers. Link them to pay. Demand sponsorship, not just mentorship. Install bias controls in hiring, performance and progression. Treat microaggressions as organisational risk.

At a personal level, counter harmful masculine myths by normalising help-seeking. Choose culturally competent therapy, build strong peer networks and protect sleep and recovery  because thriving is a strategy, not a luxury.

From Burden to Blueprint

The time is now. It is time to name the pattern.

• Document it and convert evidence into influence.

• Maintain a clear record of outcomes and impact.

• Request specific, measurable promotion criteria.

• Secure a sponsor who can advocate for you in decision-making forums.

• Strengthen your support ecosystem.

• Be more intentional with peer networks, clinicians and allies, so personal resilience is matched by structural backing.

This is not about carrying an unequal burden, it is about shifting systems while you advance. The pathway is defined, the tools are proven and your progress is not a mirage it is the next metric organisations will be required to account for.

Your Voice Strengthens the Collective

If this resonates, do not sit with it in silence. Add your voice. Share a moment, an insight, a pattern you have noticed. Pass this to someone who needs to hear that he is not alone.

Three ways to move now:

1. Speak it: Share a short account (two to three lines) of what you have faced or learned (anonymously if you wish).

2. Signal-boost: Forward this to one colleague and one friend. Invite them to add their voice.

3. Sponsor the next man: Recommend a Black colleague for a stretch assignment or make an introduction that opens a door.

Collective truth-telling builds community. Community builds power. Remember, one voice is testimony. Many voices are evidence. Add yours and help turn experience into change.