Workplace Inequality Common in U.S., Study Shows

Black men with the same skills as white men are only half as likely to rise from supervisor to manager and black women are only a third as likely to do so, according to a recent study by Tulane University sociologist James Elliott and City University of New York professor Ryan A. Smith. The study, published in the June 2004 edition of the American Sociological Review, asserts that racial and gender inequality are alive and well in U.S. workplaces. Elliott and Smith compiled statistics from two-hour interviews with 3,480 male and female workers from across the country. They divided workers into three categories: laborers with no power; supervisors with the power only to supervise; and managers with the power to hire, fire and set pay. From their statistics, Elliott and Smith determined that discrimination has common patterns throughout American workplaces, in both small companies and large Fortune 500 companies alike. The findings suggest that race and gender are not separate sources of discrimination but compound each other in limiting access to power and promotion. Elliott and Smith found that superiors are much more likely to fill positions of power with subordinates of the same race and sex as themselves. [more ]  For a briefing report go  [here ]