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WASHINGTON,
Aug 20 (IPS) - They wear silk suits, drive expensive cars, and exude
the self-assurance of the well heeled but at the top of the U.S.
wage ladder, black men generally stand a few rungs below their white
counterparts, according to a new study.
A
study in the current issue of the American Sociological Review followed
more than one million workers and found that even as black men enter
high-prestige professions, they earn as little as 72 cents for every
dollar paid to white men in the same occupation.
The
more than 470 jobs covered by the study included lawyer, physician,
dentist, and securities and financial service sales representative.
Earlier
studies of income differentials also have looked at black and white
workers but the latest study is the first to focus on differences
within the same occupations. It only analysed data on men. The authors
said a similar survey of women is forthcoming.
The
greatest inequality in pay was in securities and financial sales,
where black men working earned 72 cents on the dollar compared with
white men.
Black
dentists and physicians earned 80 cents for every dollar earned
by their white counterparts. Black lawyers earned 79 cents for every
dollar earned by white lawyers.
The
disparities persisted even when the black and white men had the
same education and work experience.
However,
the study found that in jobs with lower status - including cooks,
taxi drivers, and upholsterers - blacks earned virtually the same
as their white co-workers. Wages in these jobs are typically based
on production, and there is less room for race-based factors, the
authors said.
By
contrast, the higher the occupational level, the more 'intangible'
the nature of the work and the fewer blacks there are - prime conditions
for wage racism.
The
researchers also found fewer wage disparities in the public sector
than in the corporate sector. Government jobs and wages are generally
determined by merit, education and experience, leaving managers
less discretion over hiring, firing, and promotions.
Businesses
discriminate not only in compensating staff, but also in giving
them assignments, according to the study.
Xerox
Corporation, for example, is being sued by several of its black
sales representatives for allegedly assigning the most profitable
territories and sales accounts to whites.
The
company has denied any wrongdoing and vowed a vigorous defence in
court.
Anne
Mulcahy, president of the company most famous for its photocopiers,
told employees in a letter last month: "We treat diversity
as a business goal. The goal is creating and maintaining a supportive,
inclusive work environment for all employees."
The
study, however, suggested that it is common for black professionals
to be matched with black clientele because supervisors believe black
staff will relate better to black customers, and whites to whites.
The
problem for the average black salesman is that black businesses,
like black families, tend to earn less than their white counterparts
and therefore have less to spend. Thus, black sales professionals
given largely black client populations are doomed to relatively
low incomes, fees, and commissions.
The
phenomenon is particularly pronounced in high-level service occupations
such as securities and financial sales, where professionals solicit
and service clients' investment or banking needs. In such cases,
earnings are especially dependent on commissions from sales and
trades of stocks, bonds, or other investment and savings vehicles.
Yet,
black men in financial firms are perhaps even more likely to be
steered to black or other 'lower net worth' clients because whites
are considered to have more of the 'soft' or 'people' skills needed
to interact with wealthier - overwhelmingly, white - clients. Such
'skills' often boil down to dress and demeanour and are measured
by the ease of interaction, much of it social, with clients. (END/IPS/NA/IF/AA/01)
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