APA Assignment

Diversity and Racial Hierarchies

As we have discussed, despite more than 50 years of existence of anti-discrimination legislation and about 30

years of attention to “diversity” in organizations, the need for continued efforts to increase equality and inclusion

remains strong. Although racial and ethnic minorities (men and women) now comprise a larger share of the

labor force as was predicted by Johnston and Packer, Whites (women and men) continue to hold a

disproportionate share of managerial jobs.* In a study by Stainback and Tomaskovic-Devey that directly assessed trends in managerial representation in the period between the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

and the year 2000, researchers found a higher proportion of White men were managers in the private sector in

2000 than in 1966, and that White women had gained the greatest share of managerial jobs.* As shown in Table 1.3, 11% of White men were managers, and White men were nearly 91% of all managers in 1966; in 2000,

nearly 15% of White men were managers, and White men were 57% of all managers. White women, who

comprised 28% of all managers in 2000, gained the greatest share of managerial jobs; in 1966, 2% of all White

women were managers, and more than 8% were managers in 2000. The researchers concluded that White

men’s representation has changed very little in the older and more desirable (higher-paid, higher-status)

sectors of the economy and that gains for White women, Black women, and Black men have been

disproportionately higher represented in positions where they manage similar others. Black women’s gains are

most likely to be in the growing (lower-paid, lower-status) service sectors where they manage other Black

women.* These findings are supportive of greater diversity, but also of glass ceilings, racial and gender segregation, and a racial hierarchy.

Trends in the Labor Force Size, Percent Managerial, and Race–Sex Composition of the Private Sector

1966 1980 1990 2000

Total Labor Force

Employment 19,285,338 28,807,871 30,659,160 37,102,233

Percent managerial jobs 7.19 10.15 10.40 9.68

White Male

Percent of labor force 62.27 48.47 42.19 37.62

Percent of all managers 90.97 75.69 65.35 57.14

Percent who are managers 10.50 15.85 16.11 14.70

Book Title: eTextbook: Diversity in Organizations Chapter 1. Introduction Diversity and Racial Hierarchies

Table 1.3.

1966 1980 1990 2000

White Female

Percent of labor force 25.51 32.27 34.68 32.32

Percent of all managers 7.14 16.56 24.24 27.79

Percent who are managers 2.01 5.21 7.27 8.32

Black Male

Percent of labor force 6.33 6.40 6.22 6.66

Percent of all managers 0.70 2.97 3.08 3.74

Percent who are managers 0.80 4.71 5.16 5.43

Black Female

Percent of labor force 2.54 5.48 6.83 7.88

Percent of all managers 0.18 1.27 2.21 3.11

Percent who are managers 0.52 2.35 3.37 3.82

Source: Adapted from Table 1, Trends in the Labor Force Size, Percent Managerial, and Race–Sex Composition of the Private Sector EEO-Reporting Firm s, 1966 to 2000. Stainback, K., & Tomaskovic-Devey, D. (2009). “Intersections of Power and Privilege: Long-Term Trends in Managerial Representatio n.” American Sociological Review, 74: 800–820.

A social hierarchy is the ranking of individuals or groups, implicitly or explicitly, regarding a valued social

dimension, such as race*. In the Stainback and Tomaskovic-Devey study, the data focused on Whites and Blacks and did not consider any other racial groups. However, multiple researchers have proposed that the

diversity of the United States’ population has resulted in a multi-racial hierarchy, rather than a bi-racial one,

given the increasing racial and ethnic diversity of the population*. In three studies of more than 200,000 people who completed measures at Project Implicit*, researchers assessed the presence of “hierarchies in social evaluation”, using Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics. In implicit, subconscious assessments, participants

evaluated their own racial group most positively and ordered the other groups as Whites, Asians, Blacks, and

Hispanics.* When evaluating the four groups explicitly, the ordering changed slightly: Whites, Asians, Hispanics, and Blacks, with Whites and Asians preferring Hispanics over Blacks, and Blacks preferring

Hispanics over Asians and Whites, on average. Research on disparities in hiring, pay, promotions, and layoffs

that controlled for performance, education, and other human capital differences indicates that Whites are fairly

consistently at the top of the social hierarchy, followed by Asians, Hispanics, and Blacks, with the latter two

groups sometimes changing positions.* Thus, in the multi-racial hierarchy, there is indeed diversity, but without equality and inclusion.* Continued increases in population diversity and the relationships between diversity and organizational competitiveness, along with the moral and social concerns, make the continued pursuit of

diversity, equality, and inclusion very important.