What Is Tokenism, and Why Does It Matter in the Workplace?
By Kara Sherrer
February is Black History Month, and both Vanderbilt Business and Vanderbilt University have commemorated the month with a variety of programming. Last week, The Wond’ry hosted a panel of eight African-American women business leaders from the Vanderbilt and Nashville communities, including two representatives from the Owen Graduate School of Management: Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Professor of Management Melissa Thomas-Hunt and Director of Admissions Consuela Knox.
Moderated by Dominique Anderson — Program Coordinator for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at The Wond’ry — the panelists discussed what diversity and tokenism look like within a business context. Participants included:
- Ashley Northington, Director at DENOR Brands Public Relations
- Brit Fitzpatrick, Cofounder and CEO of MentorMe
- Consuela Knox, Director of Admissions Operations and Diversity Recruiting Manager at the Owen Graduate School of Management
- Elizabeth Hart, Associate Director of Communications at the TN Department of Health
- Kia Jarmon, Founder of MEPR Agency
- LoLita Toney, Managing Director of Ivy Business Solutions
- Melissa Thomas-Hunt, Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence and Professor of Management, Vanderbilt University
- Susan Vanderbilt, Executive Director and Owner of Entrée Savvy
What is Tokenism
The panel kicked off by defining tokenism: “the practice of doing something (such as hiring a person who belongs to a minority group) only to prevent criticism and give the appearance that people are being treated fairly” (via Merriam Webster).
Knox pointed out that intent is important in deciding whether or not a company is engaging in tokenism. If there’s only one candidate from an underrepresented minority within a group, that could be an instance of tokenism — or maybe the company is only just beginning its diversity efforts. Or perhaps the company genuinely wants to improve diversity among staff, but past initiatives have been lacking.
“You could be in an organization where there are very few people like you. And in one regard, it could have been that you were hired as a token,” she said. “In another regard, it could be a company that’s really, genuinely interested in diversifying but their efforts haven’t been fruitful…the intent was good, they just haven’t gotten things lined up well.”
