Racial Differences in Managerial Training

STUDY SHOWS RACIAL DIFFERENCES IN MANAGERIAL TRAINING

While the percentage of women in job training doubled between 1970 to 1991, a greater proportion of white women were engaged in managerial or professional training than black women.

That's according to a new study, "The Job Training Experiences of Black and White Women, 1970-1991," co-authored by Mary Cianni, associate professor of management at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA; and Richard Caputo of Barry University in Miami Shores, FL. The study has been accepted for publication by Human Resource Development Quarterly.

The study investigated the training patterns of women across two decades, the influence of family status and race on training opportunities, the effects of demographic characteristics as well as training attributes on completion rates of women, and the contribution of various human capital variables on income levels.

The researchers used data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience and found black women, when participating in training in their younger years, tended to be over-represented in clerical/semi-skilled training and under-represented in managerial/professional training.

"Jobs in the clerical sector are not only lower-paying jobs, but are also among the job sectors declining in growth," says Cianni. "To the extent that black women were disproportionately found in clerical training programs in their 20s, their current opportunities may be limited."

As the subjects aged, black women participated less than white women in training, but no differences by training types were found. The researchers also found the gap between the groups narrowing in the 1980s with an increase in black women in management/professional programs.

"The results of our study also suggest that black women were no longer disadvantaged in their access to management/professional training in recent years. Care should be taken to ensure that black women entering the workforce today are not similarly channeled into clerical programs like their older counterparts."

Cianni notes that women, in general, and black women, in particular, continue to be under-represented in top management positions. Even though differences between white women and black women in access to management/professional training lessened during the 1980s, occupational sex segregation persists.

Editors: You can reach Dr. Cianni at 717-372-4459 (office) or 717-731-0352 (home). Caputo is at 305-899-3962 (office). Please contact Steve Infanti of Dick Jones Communications at 814-867-1963 if you would like a copy of the study.