SURE, IT'S 2005 and millions of black
people may have fought the discrimination war. But, in the American
workplace, there is still work to be done. The median pay of black men
is $30,409 a year, compared with a white man's $38,869, according to
the U.S. Census Bureau. Black men make just 78 percent of what their
white counterparts earn. A black woman earns a median salary of $25,117
yearly, about 89 percent of the $28,080 a white woman makes annually.
And black people fill fewer than 5 percent of executive positions
nationwide, though they comprise nearly 13 percent of the nation's
population. "There is still that glass ceiling," says Lisa Cowan
Hawkins, 33, assistant vice president of information technology
strategies at Irwin Mortgage Corp. in Fishers, Ind. "When you're really
wanting to progress, when being mid-tier isn't good enough, you do face
some barriers." At lower levels of organizations, there are lots of
opportunities. Employers, she says, seem to be willing to open their
entry-level doors to blacks as they drive diversity numbers up.
"Getting your foot in the door isn't the problem," she says. "But you
see challenges as you try to go up in management." [more]
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