Our Separate Ways

Addressing gender alone won't help women rise to the top.

Although women come from widely diverse backgrounds, they share a common assumption upon entering the workforce: 'I have a chance.' Along the way, however, they discover that people question their authority, challenge their intelligence, and discount their ideas. And while gender is a common denominator among these women, race and class are often wedges between them.

In Our Separate Ways, Ella Bell Smith and Stella M. Nkomo take an unflinching look at the surprising differences between Black and White women's trials and triumphs on their way to the top. Based on groundbreaking research, the book compares and contrasts the experiences of 120 Black and White female managers in America. Powerful stories bring to life the women's often difficult journeys from childhood to professional success, highlighting the roles that gender, race, and class played in their development.

Now with an updated preface and epilogue, the book provides candid discussions of the continuing challenge of achieving race and gender equality in the midst of deep political and ideological divides. You'll discover how White women have perhaps unwittingly aligned themselves more often with White men than with Black women and how systemic racism and biases still exist in organisations. But you’ll also learn what to do to leverage the talents of all women and eliminate systemic racism for good.

Whether you lead an organisation or simply want to better understand the dynamics at play in business today, you'll discover provocative ideas for creating a better workplace and encouraging equality for everyone.

About the Authors

Ella Bell Smith is a professor of business administration at Tuck School of Business and works in the field of organizational behavior. She has served as a consultant to Fortune 500 companies and to many public institutions. Her scholarly works have been reported in many top publications, and her book, Our Separate Ways: Black and White Women and the Struggle for Professional Identity , has been widely acclaimed.

Her second book, Career GPS: Strategies for Women Navigating the New Corporate Landscape, provides career and life advice. Smith serves on the advisory board of MAKERS and is a past member of the board of directors of Coqual. Her innovative work with women leaders earned her the Scholarly Contributions for Educational Practice Advancing Women in Leadership Award from the Gender and Diversity Division of the Academy of Management. She is the founder and president of Ascent: Leading Multicultural Women to the Top.

Stella M. Nkomo is a professor in the Department of Human Resource Management at the University of Pretoria. Her internationally recognized research on race, gender, diversity, and leadership in organizations has been published in numerous journals. Nkomo is the coauthor, with Ella Bell Smith, of Our Separate Ways. She is a sought-after speaker and consultant to organizations in South Africa, Europe, and the United States.
She was the founding president of the Africa Academy of Management and the recipient of the 2017 International Leadership Association's Lifetime Achievement Award.