Table 2 - uploaded by Scott Williams
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Source publication
While every instance of race-based employment discrimination is important, this study finds that managers need to devote extra attention to the discharge of male, African American employees. During the past three decades, efforts to create fair procedures and promote perceptions of fair treatment have focused on hiring activities, the “front door”....
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... goods producing industries are slightly higher (at 25%), and service producing industries slightly lower (at 75%) than those of the U.S. (20% goods and 80% service). For Ohio, local and state government employment is about 12.5%, while nationally it averages about 13.5% of to- tal employment (Ohio Bureau of Employment Services, 1998, Table 2; U.S. Department of Labor, 2000, Table B-1). ...
Context 2
... of the most significant findings by these authors is the length of em- ployment of African American males shown the back door by the employers identified in their claims (Table 2). Fifty-three percent of African American males who filed claims alleging discriminatory discharge held their jobs for one year or less. ...
Context 3
... African American males can survive the first year of employment, then their chances of retaining their jobs increases to that of non Black males (Table 2). Thus, if employers and HR professionals want to reap the benefits of their equal hiring opportunity efforts, they must closely monitor what hap- pens to African American males during their first year of employment. ...
Citations
... In this vein, studies have focused almost exclusively on downward movement from relatively privileged managerial and professional positions. Several studies, for instance, have documented the disproportionate vulnerability of African American men to downward mobility resulting from workplace transitions associated with the "new restructured economy," such as the decline of long-term contracts, the rise of at-will employment, the widespread adoption of laborreducing technology, and firm downsizing (Cappelli, 2000;Kalev & Dobbin, 2006;Slonaker, Wendt, & Williams, 2003). ...
... When in lower status, male dominated jobs, both black and white women experienced differential treatment compared with men. Different analyses of the same data indicated that ageist stereotyping contributed to older workers' discriminatory job losses (Roscigno et al., 2007), and that 53 percent of the black men and 32 percent of white men had been terminated in their first year (Slonaker et al., 2003). ...
... Young black men also face discrimination that negatively affects their likelihood of later employment (Wilson, 2005), with the youngest being 33 percent more likely to be dismissed than white men in their first three years of employment. Slonaker et al. (2003), found that while 21 percent each of black and white men were terminated for inadequate performance, another 21 percent of black men were terminated for "disruptive behavior," compared with only 12 percent of white men. They suggested that "negative stereotypes influence how supervisors and co-workers perceive African American males" (p. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of discriminatory job loss (DJL), which occurs when discrimination and job loss intersect. The paper aims to discuss the antecedents and consequences of DJL and calls for research on the topic.
Design/methodology/approach
Diversity and careers research from management, psychology, economics, and sociology literatures on discrimination, job loss, and unemployment are examined.
Findings
Discriminatory job loss involves discriminatory termination, discriminatory layoff, retaliatory termination, and constructive discharge and exacerbates negative outcomes of discrimination or job loss alone. Antecedents to DJL are the external and internal environments. DJL affects unemployment duration and reemployment quality and targets self‐esteem, self‐efficacy, and perceived control.
Social implications
When large numbers of people experience DJL and long unemployment durations and lower re‐employment quality, this affects the individuals as well as society. In times of high employment, when jobs are scarce, individuals have fewer employment options and employers have more freedom to engage in discrimination. Having large groups of people know that their ability to maintain employment is negatively affected by their demographic group membership while others know that their demographic membership provides employment privileges can result in long‐term negative individual, organizational, and societal consequences.
Originality/value
This paper brings attention to, and calls for research on, DJL and its negative consequences.
... The ''minority vulnerability thesis" synthesizes stratification research over the last fifteen or so years, addresses the relationship between race and forms of job displacement (Neumark, 2000;Smith, 1994;Wilson and McBrier, 2005;McBrier and Wilson, 2004;Spalter-Roth and Deitch, 1999;Collins, 1997Collins, , 1993Feagin and McKinney, 2003;King, 1998;Elvira and Zatick, 2002;Slonaker et al., 2003), and highlights the structural correlates and social psychological dynamics of racial prejudice (Bobo et al., 1997;Weeks and Lupter, 2004;Bonilla-Silva, 2004Reskin, 2000;Tomaskovic-Devey and Skaggs, 1999;Pettigrew and Martin, 1987;Tuch and Martin, 1997;Kluegel and Bobo, 2001;Jackson and Taylor, 1995;Brief et al., 2000). In fact, over one-third of these studies invoke-though do not systematically examine-dynamics across the work career. ...
In the context of the minority vulnerability thesis, this study assesses whether there are racial differences in the prevalence, determinants, and timing of downward mobility from managerial/executive and professional/technical occupational categories during the critical early career years. Findings from a panel study of income dynamics sample of men support theory: African Americans, compared to Whites, have a greater incidence of downward movement, face a route to downward movement that is less strongly predicted by traditional stratification-based causal factors, and experience mobility quickly. Analyses also reveal that racial gaps in downward mobility along lines enunciated by theory are greater in the private sector than the public sector. Implications of the findings for understanding evolving patterns of racial inequality in privileged occupations are discussed.
... The activities of closure include exclusion which may be carried out overtly or indirectly through the arbitrary adoption of educational credentialing and licensure which restricts the labor supply (Weeden 2002). Or managers may initiate differential treatment against African Americans and women (while on the job) as a form of hierarchy maintenance (Roscigno, Garcia, Mong, and Byron 2007;Slonaker, Wendt, and Williams 2003). Prior work calls our attention to two particular forms of hierarchy maintenance that can lead to firing: quid pro quo sexual harassment and retaliation. ...
... are fired within one year (see also Slonaker, Wendt, and Williams 2003). This is compared to the much longer tenure of all other groups (22% fired within six months and 38% within one year). ...
The sociological literature on workplace inequality has been relatively clear regarding racial disparities and ongoing vulnerabilities to contemporary structural and employer biases. We still know little, however, about the consequences of age and ageism for minority workers and susceptibilities to downward mobility. Coupling insights regarding race with recent work on employment-based age discrimination, we interrogate in this article African Americans and Whites, aged 55 and older, and the extent to which they experience job loss across time. Our analyses, beyond controlling for key background attributes, distinguish and disaggregate patterns for higher and lower level status managers and professionals and for men and women. Results, derived from data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, reveal unique and significant inequalities. Relative to their White and gender specific counterparts, older African American men and women experience notably higher rates of downward mobility-downward mobility that is not explained by conventional explanations (i.e., human capital credentials, job/labor market characteristics, etc.). Such inequalities are especially pronounced among men and for those initially occupying higher status white-collar managerial and professional jobs compared to technical/skilled professional and blue-collar "first line" supervisors. We tie our results to contemporary concerns regarding ageism in the workplace as well as minority vulnerability. We also suggest an ageism-centered corrective to existing race and labor market scholarship.
Does employment discrimination vary in degree or character across public and private labor market sectors? Prior research cannot fully address this question because it typically relies on one dimension of discrimination—estimates of wage gaps. This study extends the literature by analyzing 11,528 legally verified cases of race and sex discrimination from the Ohio Civil Rights Commission (1986-2003). Quantitative analyses demonstrate that aggregate rates of verified discrimination vary little by sector, yet there are elevated rates of public sector promotion discrimination and elevated rates of private sector firing discrimination. In-depth qualitative analyses show that specific sectoral processes contribute to these aggregate patterns. In the public sector, limited accountability for promotion decisions allows managers to devalue seniority, augment “soft skills,” and sabotage multiple stages of formalized proceedings. Moreover, the very devices intended to curb discriminatory promotion may inadvertently multiply the stages for bias to enter decisions. In the private sector, managers exploit the latitude afforded by the employment-at-will doctrine to differentially terminate workers, sometimes justifying their actions as cost saving in a competitive market. The author argues that these processes are in line with statistical discrimination and social closure theories and concludes by discussing their implications for understandings of workplace inequality.
Differences and similarities between public and private sector organizations have been hypothesized and researched for several decades. This study investigated the differences in claims of employment discrimination reported for employees within the private and public sectors. A longitudinal database of statewide discrimination claims was analyzed to determine if differences in employment discrimination patterns or levels exist between the sectors. Theoretical and practical implications are presented in addition to propositions for future research.
Does race affect the route to downward mobility from white collar occupations? Data from Panel Study of Income Dynamics are used to assess the minority vulnerability thesis, which maintains there are race-specific processes of down ward occupational mobility among males from white collar occupations. Findings indicate that, consistent with theory, a racialized continuum exists across six years of the work-career. For Whites, the path to downward mobility is relatively narrow and structured by traditional stratification-based causal factors, namely, human capital, back ground socioeconomic status, and job/labor market characteristics. For African Americans, the route to downward mobility is broad-based and not captured by traditional stratification factors and Latinos occupy an intermediate ground between Whites and African Americans. Further, as predicted by theory, the racial gap in mobility processes between Whites and racial minorities is pronounced at the lower-tier of white collar employment. Finally, implications of the findings for understanding labor market inequalities on the basis of race are discussed.
