Discrimination, Women, and Work: Processes and Variations by Race and Class

AbstractResearch on gender and workplace stratification has made clear that persistent employment, wage, and mobility gaps exist, and that discrimination at organizational and interactional levels is playing a role. Few studies, however, have been able to directly capture processes involved. In this article, we draw on unique qualitative and quantitative data pertaining to verified cases of workplace sex and race discrimination (1988 to 2003), and analyze the discriminatory experiences of African-American and white women across various occupational statuses. Notable are high levels of discriminatory firing for both groups, but higher instances of race-based promotional discrimination for black women—a pattern partially linked to their disparate concentration in sex-segregated workplaces and in positions of lower occupational prestige. Our qualitative immersion into case materials reveals influential mechanisms and employer justifications, unique manifestations of differential treatment on the job, and the use of "soft skill" criteria in gatekeeper decision making. We conclude by discussing important dimensions of workplace discrimination for women, variations by social class and race status, and how complexities of status matter for what women experience and gatekeeper behavior. NOTESNotes1 In 1990, 56 percent of women over the age of 16 were in the U.S. labor market. Of those women, white women comprised 81.07 percent of the labor force, while black women comprised 12.18 percent of the labor force. In 1990, in the state of Ohio, almost 55 percent of women over the age of 16 were in the labor market. Of those women, white women comprised 88.21 percent of the labor force, while black women comprised 10.38 percent of the labor force.2 Recall that verified cases are those wherein evidence supported the charging party's claim, or there was a higher-level finding in the charging party's favor.3 General harassment includes exclusion, antagonism, and intimidation. General harassment cases include those where the employer or fellow employees are doing something to make the work environment intolerable for the Charging Party. It can take on many forms, including, differential treatment because of pregnancy, antagonism, exclusion from opportunities given to other employees, and so on. The basic premise of general harassment is to make the Charging Party feel unwelcome and uncomfortable, with the likely result of the Charging Party leaving the place of employment.