Dove has partnered with LinkedIn to help pass The CROWN Act and end race-based hair discrimination nationwide.
While progress has been made to end hair discrimination with the passage of The CROWN Act in some states across the US, race-based hair discrimination remains a systemic problem in the workplace – from hiring practices to daily workplace interactions – disproportionately impacting Black women’s employment opportunities and professional advancement.
The NEW CROWN 2023 Workplace Research Study, co-commissioned by Dove and LinkedIn, found that Black women’s hair is 2.5x more likely to be perceived as unprofessional, and details the systemic social and economic impact of hair bias and discrimination against Black women in the workplace. Additional findings from the CROWN 2023 Workplace Research Study include:
- Bias against natural hair and protective styles can impact how Black women navigate the hiring process.
- Approximately 2/3 of Black women (66%) change their hair for a job interview. Among them, 41% changed their hair from curly to straight.
- Black women are 54% more likely (or over 1.5x more likely) to feel like they have to wear their hair straight to a job interview to be successful.
- Hair discrimination has led Black women to have a negative experience or outcomes within the workplace.
- Black women with coily/textured hair are 2x as likely to experience microaggressions in the workplace than Black women with straighter hair.
- Over 20% of Black women 25-34 have been sent home from work because of their hair.
- Young Black professionals are feeling the pressure from hair discrimination the most.
- Nearly half (44%) of Black women under age 34 feel pressured to have a headshot with straight hair.
- 25% of Black women believe they have been denied a job interview because of their hair, which is even higher for women under 34 (1/3).
“For far too long, Black women and men have been subject to unfair treatment, outright discrimination and a myriad of inequities for simply wearing our natural hair texture and hair styles that are inherent to our cultural identity. This includes being denied employment, being sent home from work, being overlooked for promotions, and a range of micro-aggressions. This may be hard to believe, but it is real, clearly unwarranted, and unacceptable,” says Esi Eggleston Bracey, President & CEO of Unilever Personal Care in North America. “The goal of the partnership between Dove and LinkedIn is to help put an end to race-based hair discrimination in the workplace. We intend to shine a light on this issue and call upon employers, hiring managers, and professionals to adopt equitable and inclusive practices that create a respectful and open world for natural hair.”
I support the CROWN Act!!!!!