When faced with perceived racial discrimination in the workplace, new Rice University research finds that Christians lean on their faith to get them through these experiences. However, researchers warn this can lead to employee exploitation or, on the flip side, encouraging feelings of victimhood.
“Take It to the Lord: Religion and Responses to Racial Discrimination in the Workplace” will appear in an upcoming edition of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity and takes an in-depth look at how employees use religion to navigate challenges in the workplace.
The researchers found that Christians of different racial backgrounds use their faith to make sense of and cope with discrimination in very different ways. Overall, Christians of color and white Christians draw on the notions of forgiveness and divine sovereignty — “God is in control” — to help them cope when facing discrimination. In addition, some Christians of color said their faith empowered them with a moral conviction to stand up for themselves and others in the workplace.
“Religion can be a powerful source of social support and guidance in combating the negative and harmful mental health effects of racial discrimination, stereotyping and stigmatization in the workplace,” said Rachel Schneider, director of the Religion and Public Life Program at Rice and one of the study’s lead authors.
However, Schneider cautioned that relying on religion as a means of coping and support when navigating difficult situations in the workplace can lead to employee exploitation.
“Some employers may be able to get away with improper or outright illegal behavior because employees feel like it is a religious trial or test and don’t report what is happening, focusing instead on trying to practice forgiveness or releasing it to God,” she said.
Unlike prior research on this topic, this study asked people about how religion affected racial hierarchies and equity efforts in the workplace and the many feelings surrounding them.
“Over the course of our research, we spoke with one respondent — a white male — who felt that he was passed over for a promotion, and a person of color was promoted instead,” said Bianca Mabute-Louie, a graduate student and research fellow in sociology and another of the study’s lead authors. “This person said that he felt this was anti-white discrimination and a denial of opportunity because of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and that he relied on his faith and belief that God had a bigger and better plan for his life despite setbacks to cope with feeling overlooked.”
However, Mabute-Louie said that this is an example of how religion could reinforce ignorance and misinformation about DEI initiatives and false confidence in one’s qualifications.
“This is a situation where we theorize that one’s religion may result in some white individuals not questioning the reality that maybe they just weren’t as qualified as another individual, or that DEI initiatives exist to combat structural racism, while reinforcing an individual’s sense of white victimhood and entitlement,” she said.
This study utilized in-depth interview data from the nationally representative “Faith at Work: An Empirical Study.” The researchers hope it offers new insights on how Christians of different racial groups use faith to cope with perceived racial discrimination at work.
The study was co-authored by Denise Daniels, the Hudson T. Harrison Professor of Entrepreneurship at Wheaton College; and Elaine Howard Ecklund, the Herbert S. Autrey Chair in Social Sciences, professor of sociology and director of the Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance.
This paper is part of the broader “Faith at Work: An Empirical Study,” Lilly Endowment Inc., #2017 0021, Elaine Howard Ecklund PI, Denise Daniels Co-PI.