request our brochure

The culture of covering: how to disrupt it

October 7, 2024

Despite all the efforts and progress towards inclusion in the workplace, ‘covering’ is still a subject for debate, and a lot of it — that is, downplays known disfavored identities to fit into mainstream corporate cultures. According to a recent study released by Deloitte’s DEI Institute in collaboration with  the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU School of Law, 60% of workers report covering at work within the last 12 months. However, this also presents organizations and leaders with the opportunity to foster an uncovering culture—a workplace environment that not only calls for greater authenticity and belonging but makes it possible.

Professor Kenji Yoshino developed the term ‘covering’ in his 2006 book Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights, which describes four axes along which individuals cover:

  1. Appearance-based covering concerns how individuals alter their self-presentation—including grooming, attire, and mannerisms—to blend into the mainstream culture.
  2. Advocacy-based covering concerns not defending or promoting the interests of one’s group.
  3. Affiliation-based covering concerns how individuals minimize behaviors widely associated with their identity, often to negate common stereotypes.
  4. Association-based covering concerns how individuals avoid contact with other group members.

The new research confirms that workers continue to cover along all four axes with regard to a plethora of social identities such as those based on age, disability, gender, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. 

The reasons for covering

Workers engage in covering for a variety of reasons, some having to do with broader social or familial dynamics rather than the culture of their workplace. In fact, the survey data reveals that the majority of workers who cover (63%) began to do so before starting their job at the organization. Nonetheless, many of the top reasons workers gave for covering referred to the judgments or expectations of others around them:

  • So that others don’t think less of me
  • To avoid negative stereotypes
  • To avoid the judgment of others
  • For the convenience or comfort of others
  • To be seen as competent and/or valuable
  • To advance in my organization
  • To keep my job

While every individual in an organization can influence its culture, leaders have a crucial role in disrupting a culture of covering. Research suggests that leaders often cover more, not less, than those lower in the organizational hierarchy.

50% of workers believe their team leaders create psychological safety for them to uncover at work;

61% of workers believe their team leaders genuinely desire their authenticity;

67% of both C-Suite (or other executives) and senior managers report covering at the highest rates.

The prospects for meaningful reform are promising: 88% of workers claim that actions already taken by their organization have helped reduce the demand to cover at work. When leaders act, they can and do transform the workplace. When asked for recommendations to foster an uncovering culture, some respondents emphasized that seemingly small actions by colleagues and leaders—such as demonstrating increased openness, dialogue, and understanding—would help.

Source: Deloitte