Rethinking Effective Intervention for Women of Color (WOC) Through the Lens of Critical HRD: A Literature Review

Women of Color (WOC) have long faced systemic exclusion and remain underrepresented across organizational contexts, particularly in STEM, higher education, and executive leadership. These inequities often manifest as invisibility, marginalization, and limited access to advancement opportunities. Support interventions, such as mentoring, training, coaching, and leadership development have been proposed to address these challenges, although their effectiveness requires critical examination. This literature review analyzes 23 full-text studies from 2015 to 2024 across six journals (HRDQ, HRDR, HRDI, ADHR, NHA, and EJTD) using Bierema and Callahan’s Critical Human Resource Development (CHRD) framework, which emphasizes “Relating,” “Learning,” “Changing,” and “Organizing.” Our findings reveal growing interest in CHRD-informed practices but also highlight conceptual ambiguity regarding how CHRD differs from traditional HRD approaches. The analysis further shows uneven emphasis across the CHRD dimensions, with relational and learning-based interventions receiving greater attention than structural and transformational approaches. In response, we propose refinements to the CHRD framework that foreground relational support as a foundational condition for development and emphasize the need for stronger accountability mechanisms to ensure equity initiatives translate into practice. We conclude by recommending greater conceptual clarity, longitudinal empirical research, and cross-context collaboration to strengthen the evidence base for CHRD interventions supporting the advancement and well-being of WOC.