Jennifer Bailey
The desire to be valued and accepted extends from our personal to our professional lives. But what happens when you don’t feel like you can be yourself at work and you have to hide or change aspects of yourself to fit in? This is called code-switching.
The term is commonly attributed to linguistic scholarship in the 1950s. Einar Haugen discussed related language-switching and borrowing processes in 1950, but reference sources commonly date the coinage of code-switching to to a later time.
The term code-switching was used by the linguist Einar Haugen to describe people’s ability to move between languages and dialects.
Later researchers applied the concept of code-switching to workplace experiences, including the experiences of Black employees. Researchers including Courtney McCluney expanded the definition to include adjustments to language, behavior and appearance in the workplace. Mercedes Swan, a career coach, defines code-switching as changing your identity to assimilate into the workplace. Swan says that those who are members of minority or marginalized communities can feel pressured to code-switch.
“When we go into the workplace, in those social contexts, we’re likely to change our language, maybe our accents, our dialects, just how we communicate with others in the workplace,” she says.
Swan is the founder of Career Love, a social impact organization that creates safe, empowering environments for high-performing Black women. “When we walk into the workplace, we’re leaving some of ourselves outside the door, because we have to fit into these settings,” she says.
It can be easy to assume that code-switching helps people connect with their colleagues, Swan says.
Swan distinguishes between code-switching and flexibility in the workplace, saying that code-switching is not about connection but conformity. “I’m switching to align to a power structure,” says Swan.
The long-term effects of code-switching can be detrimental, damaging self-concept and individuality, Swan says. “Over time, that can degrade your mental and emotional health. How does it impact me knowing that I’m not accepted by people that I spend eight hours a day with?”
Swan suggests employers can reduce pressure to code-switch by examining existing practices and asking hard questions. She says organizations should evaluate whether their practices encourage their employees to show up fully, avoid tone policing and respond with curiosity rather than judgment when they encounter unfamiliar language. “Each leader is responsible for unpacking that,” she adds.
Swan suggests that employees who want to reduce their code-switching start with one small action, such as styling their hair differently or choosing a piece of clothing that feels authentic to them. “Just whatever you can do to start detaching from that [code-switching] and taking one step forward to being a little bit more liberated and a little bit more yourself is powerful,” Swan says. “Just one thing, try one thing.”
Jennifer Bailey is a licensed clinical social worker and registered drama therapist.
