The Paucity of Black Leaders in the Brazilian Job Market
Working Toward Reversing Disparities for the Advancement of Black Professionals
This blog post is a translation and adaptation of the original article titled “Onde estão as lideranças negras no mercado de trabalho?” written by Juliane Sousa, Quilombola Journalist and Communications and Marketing Manager at Sistema B Brasil.
It’s not breaking news that Brazil is a country marked by deep inequality. Disparities traverse all facets of life, including the job market. A survey conducted by Indique Uma Preta and Cloo titled “Leaders in the Making: Why Black career trajectories are so secluded,” highlights this reality. While Black individuals make up the numerical majority of Brazil’s population at 55.8%, only 33.3% hold formal employment.
It’s crucial to reflect on why Black communities have always had to fight so hard to enjoy fundamental rights, such as housing, education, sustenance, healthcare, and employment. This fight becomes even more intense when we look at corporate leadership. The “Leaders in the Making” survey reveals a paucity of Black professionals in company leadership positions. Among Brazil’s 500 largest companies, less than 5% of us occupy executive and managerial roles. For Black women, the divide is even greater — while they hold only 31% of managerial roles, the remaining 69.9% are occupied by white women. Additionally, a mere 8% of respondents who identify as Black are in leadership roles within their current companies.
Trouble on the Homefront
Brazil is as diverse as it is unequal. Despite the vibrant radiance of its diversity — encompassing many social categories such as race, gender, origin, culture, and sexual orientation — societal forces often conspire to tarnish its sheen. These forces manifest in the form of exclusionary structures that constantly block the upward mobility of Black professionals into corporate leadership. Those fortunate enough to overcome are often left in a vacuum with no support mechanisms for their retention in these roles…
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Jeffrey D. Stewart is the Founder and Executive Director of Enharmonic Encounters LLC, a small, Black-owned business that builds bridges toward a more unified world through expansive expertise in world languages, conscious cross-cultural communication, and positive social and environmental impact consulting toward B Certification. Partnerships result in faithfully reporting on social and environmental stewardship while also reaching stakeholders on a more global scale.
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