Women, and especially women of color, often feel they have to monitor themselves in work environments, constantly self-editing to ensure they don't leave a negative impression, writes Joan Williams, a professor at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, in the Harvard Business Review.
Women of color much prefer remote working than other groups, with one study showing that only 3 percent of Black workers wanted to return to the office full time compared to 21 percent of white workers. This may be attributed to women of color struggling with office dynamics in which they feel like the odd one out and alone.
Women of color experience both sexism and racism at work, with 81 percent of them saying they experienced some form of racism at work and 90 percent saying the same for sexism. In response, women of color often feel they have to self-edit to seem less intimidating.
"If you present yourself as too Latina or too Black in the workplace, that could be a turnoff for your white colleagues, so you kind of have to monitor that," said one Latina woman interviewed by Ms. Williams.
Others mentioned having to check their tone, not display emotions outwardly and felt like they were constantly monitoring their facial expressions and body language.