Qualified

How Competency Checking and Race Collide at Work

By: Shari Dunn

Narrated by: Shari Dunn

A groundbreaking work challenging the false narrative that diversity equals a lack of qualifications by uncovering the impact of “competency checking,” a practice that unjustly scrutinizes Black people and other people of color, forcing them to repeatedly prove their worth, intelligence, and even their right to be in the workplace.

The advancement of Black and other people of color in the workplace is under attack as there is a turn away from the promise of the ""racial reconciliation"" of 2020. This period saw Black talent rise in the workplace from DEI managers to CEOs to junior-level hires. Yet, the post-2020 workplace is seeing an alarming retreat from creating workplaces and leadership that reflect the nation’s diversity.

That retreat is characterized by underemployment, cracked glass cliffs, toxic work environments, and claims of “empty pipelines.” More concerning, Black professionals and other people of color often face greater scrutiny than their peers regarding job applications, work experience, and qualifications to even be considered for employment or advancement. And that scrutiny has a name: Competency Checking.

When it comes to hiring Black talent, the pipeline isn’t broken; rather, it is the assumptions we make about who is competent and qualified. In Qualified, award-winning executive and journalist Shari Dunn combines deep research with enlightening interviews and anecdotes from across the broad spectrum of her career to uncover the history of Competency Checking, how it manifests in the workplace, and what can be done to change it. Competency checking, Dunn argues, continues to be practiced consciously and unconsciously and is the key reason why Black people and other people of color are underrepresented in so many industries and why there continues to be a revolving door of Black talent even after the hiring surges of 2020.

This is a great book

This is a great book. Everyone needs to understand the challenges of racial biases in the present modern workplace and the various systematic mechanisms that create challenges to black worker performance, recognition and advancement in the workplace and business world. Much of the present can be understood by looking at the past. DEI (by any name) is not the problem. This very well written book covers many of the elements that need to be understood to tackle this issue. And understanding competence checking is one of them.

Highly Recommend

Shari, this book is something that should be shared in government, private sector and organizations. This is could serve as a good HR training. I think people in leadership positions should definitely read and practice what is learned. I am going to share with my team! Thank you writing such a great book!

Validating and Insightful

This book brings a clarity to the nuanced and covert systems of discrimination in the work place. Thank you Shari!

Highly recommend

By coining the term, “competency checking,” and elaborating on its meaning, impact, and implications at the workplace, Dunn’s Qualified breaks ground on all topics of Race, systemic racism, and DEI. I highly recommend this book for all HR and D&I practitioners who want to improve their organization’s profile.

Feeling Seen!!!

Shari has been able to compile experiences of several women and people of color in this AMAZING masterpiece!! She gave an overview of what so many go through in corporate and non-profit spaces.