Listen beyond the average
Use thoughtful listening processes to understand differences in experience while protecting confidentiality.
Research perspective
Psychological safety, equity & well-being
Strong performance should not require people to hide strain, silence concerns, or carry the work without support.
Marilyn Michelle's master's thesis
A focused question with wider relevance
Marilyn's master's thesis explored psychological safety and well-being among Black women in the workplace, researching the Strong Black Woman schema.
This focus informs the questions we bring to organizational work: Who feels able to raise a concern? Who is expected to remain strong without support? And whose experience disappears when leaders look only at averages?
Those questions matter across organizations, while the experiences of Black women deserve attention in their own right, not a one-size-fits-all explanation.
The topic above describes Marilyn's research focus. The sources below are external scholarship, not her thesis findings or evidence of consulting client outcomes.
Understanding the schema
Strength is not the same as support.
The Strong Black Woman schema is discussed in related scholarship through the Superwoman Schema framework. Woods-Giscombé's qualitative research describes expectations to show strength, suppress emotion, resist vulnerability or dependence, succeed despite limited resources, and help others. [1]
This framework can help us ask better questions about support and expectations. It is not a description of every Black woman, a diagnosis, or a business ROI estimate.
Understanding psychological safety
Room to speak up. Standards that still matter.
Psychological safety concerns whether people feel safe taking interpersonal risks, such as asking questions, admitting uncertainty, or raising concerns. A meta-analysis by Frazier and colleagues examines its connections with workplace outcomes, including task performance and organizational citizenship behavior. [2]
For our work, the aim is not to remove accountability. It is to create conditions where people can contribute honestly, learn, and address problems before silence becomes a barrier.
From research to organizational practice
Better questions. More intentional action.
Examine expectations
Explore workload, recognition, access to support, and whose contributions or concerns may be overlooked.
Strengthen the conditions
Support leaders and teams in building clear norms, responsive feedback, and sustainable ways of working.
References
- [1] Woods-Giscombé, C. L. (2010). Superwoman Schema: African American Women's Views on Stress, Strength, and Health. Qualitative Health Research, 20(5), 668–683. Qualitative health and stress research; not an organizational savings study.
- [2] Frazier, M. L., Fainshmidt, S., Klinger, R. L., Pezeshkan, A., & Vracheva, V. (2017). Psychological Safety: A Meta-Analytic Review and Extension. Personnel Psychology, 70(1), 113–165. Evidence about relationships across studies; not a guarantee of outcomes for an individual organization.
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