Speaking Up: A Courage Framework of BIPOC Voices in the Workplace

Despite the many beneficial outcomes of voice in the workplace, employers and employees do not often utilize it to its full potential, particularly those from historically marginalized groups. Past literature has examined the many ways in which the experience of minority-group members differs from that of majority-group members; however, scarce work has been done exploring the “mental calculus” that those from marginalized groups go through when deciding whether to advocate for themselves or others at work. To provide insight into this specific experience, I manipulated representation and context in a novel fashion – and examined if and how safety, risk, and worth might interact to predict perceived anonymity and future intentions to speak up. As anticipated, the safer employees felt, the higher the likelihood of them intending to speak up again. Perceiving speaking up to be more worthwhile and less risky predicted higher future intentions to speak up. Relatedly, if speaking up was perceived as futile, employees expressed lower voice, even if safety was high. However, this study failed to find support for the notion that the content of a potential complaint impacted employees’ perceived anonymity when speaking up. To enjoy the many benefits of voice on work-related outcomes, organizations should a) make the worth of speaking up abundantly clear, b) assure employees that they will not be penalized for speaking up, and c) act decisively on the feedback received. To enjoy the benefits of a diverse workforce, organizations should anticipate additional risks BIPOC and other marginalized groups face when speaking up and provide a safe space for reporting identity-related incivility and other sensitive concerns.