Havas Creates In-house Installation to Tackle Inequality

Unfortunately, it’s no surprise that women and particularly women of colour have a harder time entering the workplace than their male counterparts.

To raise awareness of this and continue celebrating Black History Month (which falls in February in the US), Havas Chicago has created an interactive installation in its offices to coincide with the turning of March tomorrow, aka Women’s History Month.

By creating the #BLACKATWORK installation, which was inspired by the board game and TV game show, Trivial Pursuit, the team have been able to spotlight some of the key issues obstructing racial and gender equality in the workplace.

Aimed at raising awareness of this bias, the agency hopes to educate its employees and fellow Chicagoans about professional racial tensions that still exist today – with the idea of deconstructing and hopefully removing some of these preconceived notions.

The game is divided into four categories – The Name Game, Get Your Foot in the Door, Do the Corporate Limbo and Wall of Fortune – to mark the different professional prejudices experienced by many black women in fun and engaging ways.

Get Your Foot in the Door.

The Name Game reveals that African Americans receive less callbacks than other white applicants; while Get Your Foot in the Door (above) highlights just how difficult it is for black women to enter the workforce with literally impossible-to-complete obstacles. Do the Corporate Limbo launches insults at limbo-triers, getting lower and lower with each comment, eventually making it unimaginable to do; while Wall of Fortune exposes the pay gap between black American women and their colleagues.

Last year, the agency created an obstacle course to show people what it's like to be black at work. This year's immersive installation is a way for Havas to tackle inequality head-on by offering a safe space to discuss ongoing office racism while reinforcing Havas’ commitment to equality.