Black women make up 12.7 percent of the population, yet according to studies cited in the Harvard Business Review, only 1.3 percent are in senior management and executive roles of S&P 500 firms and  there is not a single black female CEO in the Fortune 500. Dr. Lex Smith Washington, assistant professor of management at Spears Business, sheds some light on why this disparity exists and identifies the factors that help and hinder black women in the workplace.