Not all allies are created equal: An intersectional examination of relational allyship for women of color at work

Abstract

Allyship is typically considered a positive relationship between marginalized individuals and their relatively more privileged allies. Yet, this flattened, unidirectional, and single-identity view of allyship prohibits us from capturing the nuances and inherent power struggles embedded in the allied relationship. Our study aims to expand our understanding of how and whether allyship across multiple levels of difference helps dismantle oppressive structures or maintains power inequalities in organizations. Integrating current allyship research with intersectionality theory, we conduct an inductive qualitative study of allied relationships between professional women of color in Canada (n = 30) and their nominated allies (n = 30). We find that power schemata, or cognitive and emotional framing of systems of power in allied relationships affect allyship behaviors, such that power cognizance is key for effective allyship to occur. We identify three dimensions of allyship behaviors that emerge from these power considerations —(de)centering, (dis)respecting, and (in)action – which vary in terms of expected allyship by women of color and enacted allyship by their allies. Integrating power schemata and allyship dimensions, we identify three types of allied relationships for women of color at work, varying in effectiveness. We identify ongoing learning as a mechanism to move towards power-cognizance and therefore more effective allyship. Women of color emerge as the most effective allies in our study, highlighting that marginalized individuals can not only be allies, but that they play a crucial role in their own liberation. Based on these findings, we develop our intersectional theory of relational allyship for women of color at work.