From “Pet” to “Threat”: Why Black Women Are Still Penalised for Professional Growth
There is a very specific and sometimes subtle pattern which arises that many Black women recognise in the workplace, even if they don’t always know exactly what to call it. At the beginning of a role or opportunity, you are welcomed enthusiastically, you’re described as insightful, talented, impressive and full of potential. Most of your managers take an interest in your development, colleagues praise your ideas and your presence is framed as refreshing or valuable to the organisation. In those early stages, support can feel genuine and you’re encouraged to contribute, invited into conversations and often positioned as evidence that the organisation is progressive, inclusive and invested in diversity. However as your confidence grows and your competence becomes impossible to ignore something changes. Suddenly the same qualities that were once celebrated begin to generate discomfort within your team. Your ambition becomes threatening rather than inspiring, your confidence and the visibility that initially benefited you suddenly attracts excessive scrutiny.
This experience is often described as the “pet to threat” phenomenon, a term first coined in 2013 by Dr Kecia Thomas. Her research explored the experiences of Black women in professional environments and found that many initially benefited from mentorship and sponsorship, often (but not exclusively) from senior white male colleagues, while they were still perceived as non-threatening. However, as these women became more successful and assertive within their organisations, the support that they once received would often diminish or became more conditional. All these years later, the concept continues to resonate because it articulates something many Black women have experienced but struggled to explain without being dismissed as overly sensitive. What makes this phenomenon particularly insidious is that the shift is rarely obvious or dramatic because it reveals itself through subtle behavioural changes that accumulate over time.
How DEI Rollbacks Are Affecting Black Women at Work
The conversation around this issue feels even more urgent now than it did when the term was first introduced. Since 2023, there has been a noticeable shift in how diversity, equity and inclusion are discussed across both the UK and the United States. Many organisations that publicly committed themselves to racial equity following the global conversations sparked in 2020 have quietly scaled back DEI initiatives, reduced budgets or reframed inclusion work in less direct language. In the United States, anti-DEI rhetoric has become increasingly aggressive and politicised, with major corporations retreating from public commitments under legal and political pressure not to mention the fact that Black women who were seen as the faces of DEI have lost their jobs at an alarming rate. In the UK, the shift has been quieter but still deeply noticeable. Conversations around race and systemic inequality have become more cautious and in some cases organisations appear more concerned with avoiding controversy than creating genuinely equitable environments. Against this backdrop, many Black women are finding themselves navigating workplaces that still want the optics of diversity without necessarily supporting the reality of Black women holding power or influence.
Return-to-Office Culture and the Hidden Impact on Black Women
At the same time, return-to-office policies have created another layer of complexity that disproportionately affects Black women and other marginalised professionals. For many Black women, remote and hybrid working provided more than convenience. It created a level of psychological safety and autonomy that traditional office environments often failed to offer. Being able to work from home reduced exposure to macro & microaggressions, performative professionalism, code-switching and the exhausting social politics that many Black women navigate daily in corporate spaces. As organisations push employees back into physical workplaces, many Black women are once again being required to navigate environments where they feel simultaneously hyper-visible and invisible. They are hyper-visible in the sense that they are often scrutinised more heavily than their peers yet invisible when it comes to recognition, progression and meaningful support.
What is particularly frustrating about the “pet to threat” phenomenon is that it exposes how conditional support can be for Black women in professional environments. Many organisations are comfortable celebrating Black women when they are perceived as promising, grateful or symbolic of progress which is another reason why I believe that they’re over-mentored. However, the moment Black women begin to demonstrate real influence, challenge existing norms or occupy positions of authority confidently, perceptions can shift rapidly. There is still an unspoken discomfort in many industries around Black women who are visible, ambitious and unapologetic about their expertise. The workplace often rewards Black women for overperforming but punishes them once that performance translates into influence or power. It creates an impossible contradiction where Black women are expected to excel continuously while also remaining non-threatening and endlessly palatable.
Why Visibility Feels Risky for Black Women Professionals
I think this is also why conversations around personal branding and visibility are so important for Black women specifically. I speak often about personal brand visibility because I genuinely believe it can transform careers, businesses and opportunities. Visibility allows people to connect with your expertise, your perspective and your story beyond the limitations of a single organisation. However, I also understand why visibility can feel complicated for many Black women, I’ve literally just highlighted the impact of hyper-visibility so I get it. In environments where your competence already attracts disproportionate scrutiny, becoming more visible can feel risky. The more visible you become, the more likely you are to be challenged, questioned or perceived as disruptive simply for taking up space confidently. Many Black women instinctively understand this, which is why some deliberately shrink themselves professionally or avoid positioning themselves publicly despite being highly capable and experienced.
Despite this, I still believe visibility matters deeply and I would argue that it matters even more in environments where your contributions are likely to be minimised or overlooked. One of the dangers of relying entirely on organisational recognition is that institutions are rarely consistent in how they value Black women. Leadership changes and support often disappears when it becomes politically and economically inconvenient. Building a strong personal brand creates something far more sustainable because it allows Black women to establish authority independently of the organisations they work within. Your voice, your expertise, your network and your reputation become assets that belong to you rather than something controlled by corporate approval. Personal branding is not simply about self-promotion or aesthetics, it’s about creating visibility intentionally so that opportunities are not dependent solely on gatekeepers who may never fully recognise your value.
What many people misunderstand about visibility is that it does not require constant performance or becoming the loudest person in the room. Visibility can be thoughtful, strategic and aligned with your values. It can look like speaking publicly about your expertise, contributing to industry conversations, building meaningful networks, sharing your perspective online or positioning yourself as a thought leader within your field. For Black women, visibility can also become a form of resistance in environments and industries that benefit from our silence and invisibility. There is something deeply disruptive about refusing to minimise yourself in spaces that were never designed with your success in mind.
At the same time, I think it is important to acknowledge how exhausting this can all become. There is an emotional cost attached to constantly navigating environments where your ambition is questioned and your visibility feels politicised. Many Black women spend years managing perceptions carefully, trying to appear competent but approachable, confident but not intimidating, ambitious but still agreeable. That balancing act is exhausting because the rules are constantly shifting. The same behaviour that is praised in others can trigger discomfort when embodied by Black women. This is why community and support networks matter so much. Black women need spaces where they do not have to constantly explain or dilute their experiences in order to be understood.
To be honest with you though I don’t believe that Black women should feel obligated to remain loyal to environments that consistently fail to value them properly. There is a difference between resilience and self-erasure. Some Black women have internalised the idea that enduring hostility quietly is part of professional success and it’s not. Sometimes growth requires recognising when an environment benefits more from your labour than your wellbeing. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is leave spaces that only wanted your potential but resent your power.
Despite all of this I still remain optimistic about the power of Black women’s visibility, leadership and ambition. I believe Black women should continue building platforms, speaking publicly, growing their personal brands and taking up space intentionally. I believe our voices matter precisely because systems so often attempt to minimise them. The answer to the “pet to threat” phenomenon cannot be shrinking ourselves into invisibility in order to make others comfortable. There is a time to move quietly but there is also a time to move boldly and without apology so that even if they see you as a threat you continue to stay focused on your ultimate goal and move forward towards it regardless.