NEW YORK — Women of color face challenges in the workplace distinct from the separate issues of gender or ethnicity, a panel of insurance and diversity experts said.

To overcome the challenges and win promotions that they often are not seriously considered for, women of color should think about their careers and their businesses more strategically and find sponsors who are willing to support them, they said during a panel discussion at the 2019 Business Insurance Women to Watch Awards & Leadership Conference in New York on Thursday.

Women of color face several hurdles to career advancement, according to several recent studies, said Susan Johnson, chief diversity and inclusion officer at Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.

Executives and managers who make promotion decisions often are white men; and while they may have relationships with men of color, for example through sports or other social activities, and white women, many of them have little interaction with women of color in their personal lives, she said.

“The intersection of the locker room and living room does not apply when you are talking about white men and women of color,” Ms. Johnson said.

As a result, there is limited interaction between many managers and the women of color they work with, which can have the effect of curbing the promotion opportunities for women of color, and they are not given feedback from their managers to help them advance, she said.

“So they are not seen, not talked about, not thought about,” Ms. Johnson said.

When they are recognized, they are often seen as good performers but not strategic leaders, “so they are relegated to ‘special projects queen,’” she said.

Women of color also have to overcome implicit biases, said Myrna Chao, global inclusion and diversity council co-chair and North America retirement talent leader with Willis Towers Watson PLC in New York, recalling a meeting early in her career as an actuary where a CEO remarked that she must be good at math because she was Chinese.

However, she was also told that she would not be good at sales or have executive presence, she said.

“Lack of executive presence basically means that I’m not a tall white man whose native language happens to be English,” Ms. Chao said.

To develop that presence and overcome the cultural biases, she had to push herself to take on uncomfortable tasks, such as public speaking, she said.

“You get there by stepping out of your comfort zone,” Ms. Chao said.

To overcome the implicit challenges, women of color should be their authentic selves and work to make connections at their organizations and in the insurance community, said Bonnie Boone, area executive vice president at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in Chicago.

While technical expertise is important, women of color need support to help them progress in large organizations and into fields that they might not have been considered for, such as sales, legal or actuarial operations, she said.

“I can quote you how many (general liability) exclusions there are in a policy, but that’s not enough. You have to be strategic; you have to find someone who can help you maneuver,” Ms. Boone said.

Women of color can also progress by demonstrating that they understand the strategies of their organizations, said Josephine Copeland, vice president of managed care at PMA Cos. in Philadelphia.

“Always focus on the ‘why’ behind the decisions of their organization and not just how they accomplish the goals of that organization,” she said.

In addition, women of color should consider sideways moves as well as promotions as they seek to advance their careers, Ms. Copeland said.

“In some instances in my career I actually moved laterally, and that was important because it gave me a broader scope of what the organization was trying accomplish, which made me more valuable to the organization and also made me more marketable when I started to consider other options,” she said.