Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (19)
Similar to Racial Discrimination in the Employment Sector in Modern Urban America: An Empirical Analysis of Employment Discrimination in Detroit
Similar to Racial Discrimination in the Employment Sector in Modern Urban America: An Empirical Analysis of Employment Discrimination in Detroit (14)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Racial Discrimination in the Employment Sector in Modern Urban America: An Empirical Analysis of Employment Discrimination in Detroit
- 1. By: Holli Homan RACIAL DISCRIMINATION IN THE EMPLOYMENT SECTOR IN MODERN URBAN AMERICA: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION IN DETROIT
- 2. Historical policies that contribute to the manifestation of racial discrimination in employment. Research models that support the hypothesis of this research. Current policies that can address black unemployment. Research data that supports the hypothesis of this research. Personal approach to comprehensive research to address social injustice. THIS PRESENTATION WILL SEEK TO DISCUSS: Hypothesis: The black population continues to face discrimination within the employment sector.
- 3. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a turning point in the manifestation of racial discrimination in employment. Covert discrimination still serves to perpetuate inequity, which is harmful to the dynamic of a healthy social- functioning of a society. Covert discrimination much more difficult to measure. FROM OVERT TO COVERT
- 4. Skin-Shade Studies Examines individuals that possess a different shade of skin within a specific ethnic group, for the purpose of controlling for both ethnicity and culture, instead of mainly skin color. Experimental Audit Studies Through the use of field- research, seeks to identify disparities in employability between racial groups, aged 19- 25, whom were seeking entry-level positions, by pairing up equally qualified black and white participants to apply for the same job. RESEARCH MODELS SUPPORTING HYPOTHESIS
- 5. Critics blaming human capital over systemic discrimination. It’s easier to blame the individuals the system seeks to oppress. Policy Advocacy as a tool to address faulty systems and the social injustices they incur. THE CONTRIBUTION OF CAPITALISM (Advocacy Support)
- 6. H.R. 1000, the Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act (Jobs for All Act). Representative John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan’s 13th District. On March 6, 2017 - the researcher visited the regional office of Congressman Conyers in Westland, MI to provide research data to support his policy initiative. Conyers commitment to civil rights. POLICY ADVOCACY AND RESEARCH
- 7. Advocating our support for H.R. 1000 and providing our data research to support his policy. From left to right: Leslie Pittman, Juhee Kim, Alec DeNuccio, and Holli Homan. VISIT AT CONGRESSMAN CONYERS OFFICE IN WESTLAND, MI ON MARCH 6, 2017
- 8. Data obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Blacks and African Americans in Detroit are exceedingly susceptible to economic hardship. Black Youth face even higher susceptibility to economic hardship. The unemployment rate disparity between whites and blacks has consistently been 2:1. No consensus on why the 2:1 gap still persists. DATA ANALYSIS
- 10. Confidentiality in replicated experimental audit studies. NASW Code of Ethics, Section 1.07 (c) Approaching the research as an out-group member Culturally-Responsive Practice NASW Code of Ethics, Section 1.05 (b) ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
- 11. Community Engagement The 2017 Detroit MLK Day 14th Annual rally and march for Jobs, Peace & Justice Replication of Experimental Audit Studies in Detroit NASW Code of Ethics, Section 5.02 (b) The Social Work Researcher vs. The Statistical Researcher The degree of community investment. COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH APPROACH
- 12. Monday, January 16, 2017 2017 DETROIT MLK DAY 14TH ANNUAL RALLY AND MARCH FOR JOBS, PEACE & JUSTICE
- 13. Discrimination is a process, not a single-point outcome (Pager & Shepherd, 2008). There is evident support for this research hypothesis. Continued research and community engagement as the key to continued solidarity. SUPPORT FOR THE HYPOTHESIS Hypothesis: The black population continues to face discrimination within the employment sector.
- 14. HOLLI HOMAN, BSW MSW CANDIDATE NATIONAL COMMUNITY SCHOLAR UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ANY INQUIRIES ABOUT THIS PRESENTATION CAN BE DIRECTED TO MYSELF VIA EMAIL AT: HOLLIHR@UMICH.EDU THANK YOU!
- 15. Advocacy Support. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from https://www.starfishsavers.com/parents/advocacy -support/ Bureau of Labor Statistics, Midwest Information Of fice. (2017). Detroit area economic summary. Chicago, IL: BLS. Bertrand M, Mullainathan S. Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review 2004; 94:991 –1013. Code of Ethics - National Association of Social Workers. (2008). Retrieved April 01 , 2017, from https://www.socialworkers.org /pubs/code/code.asp Conyers Reintroduces Signature Bill to Provide Jobs or Training to Every Job -Seeking American. (2017, February 17). Retrieved March 04, 2017, from https://conyers.house.gov/media -center/press- releases/conyers-reintroduces-signature-bill-provide-jobs-or-training-every -job Darity, W. A., & Mason, P. L. (1998). Evidence on Discrimination in Employment: Codes of Color, Codes of Gender. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(2), 63 -90. Doi: 10.1257/jep.12.2.63 DeSilver, D. (2013, August 21). Black unemployment rate is consistently twice that of whites. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact -tank/2013/08/21/through -good- times-and-bad-black-unemployment-is-consistently -double-that-of-whites/ Pager, D., & Shepherd, H. (2008). The Sociology of Discrimination: Racial Discrimination in Employment, Housing, Credit, and Consumer Markets. Annual Review of Sociology, 34(1), 181 -209. Doi: 10.1146/annurev.soc.33.040406.131740 SOURCES
Editor's Notes
- ----- Meeting Notes (4/5/17 11:48) -----
- This research seeks to examine how racial discrimination has been historically prevalent in the American employment sector, where employment discrimination is continuously being held as a force that serves to oppress Black and African-American individuals in the contemporary competitive market; therefore, the hypothesis of this research is that the black population continues to face discrimination within the employment sector. Through personal participation in activist efforts, policy advocacy, literature review and data analysis, the researcher will seek to utilize a comprehensive approach to addressing the social justice issue of racial discrimination in the employment sector – in order to diversify and vary the impact this research can have on the community it most affects - by conveying both quantitative and qualitative data supporting the hypothesis.
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent related legislation has purged American society of the most overt forms of discrimination. However, discriminatory practices have continued in more covert and subtle forms” (Darity & Mason, pg. 65, 1998). Unlike in the pre-civil rights era, when racial prejudice and discrimination were overt and widespread, today discrimination is less readily identifiable, posing problems for social scientific conceptualization and measurement” (Pager & Shepherd, 2008).
- Skin-Shade Studies: A study conducted by Johnson, Bienenstock, and Stoloff (1995), “found that the combination of a black racial identity and a dark skin tone reduces an individual’s odds of working by 52 percent, after controlling for education, age, and criminal record” (Darity & Mason, pg. 71, 1998)! Experimental Audit Studies The pairs were trained prior to the job interview to minimize dissimilarity, and were given pre-manufactured resumes that essentially put both of their qualifications and credentials on par with one another. “The Urban Institute audits found that black males were three times as likely to be turned down for a job as white males” (Darity & Mason, pg. 79, 1998). Interviewer implicit bias coming into play as early as a non-white sounding name is recognized. A study by Bertrand & Mullainathan (2004) incidentally found that, “white names triggered a callback rate that was 50% higher than that of equally qualified black applicants” (Bertrand & Mullainathan, 2004).
- In other words, claiming that human capital is to blame for the continued prevalence of racial discrimination; where human capital deficiencies are assumed to lie with that individual’s inferior schooling, family structure, or even their culture. “But the thrust of the argument is to absolve market processes, at least in a putative long run, of a role in producing the differential outcome; the induced or inherent deficiency occurs in pre-market or extra-market processes (Darity & Mason, pg. 83, 1998).” Addressing institutional discrimination and systemic faults, instead of justifying a faulty economic system on the human capital deficiencies of those it seeks to oppress Therefore, there needs to be improved changes in both the social and legal systems in order to confront the faulty systems and institutions that continue to oppress black members of the American workforce.
- With this policy’s passage, it would provide increased funding for nonprofits, academic institutions, alongside both state and local government to provide employment and training programs to individuals; the priority of this bill is to provide these services especially in areas where high unemployment, underemployment and non-participation in employment rates continue to be an issue. Congressman Conyers has historically been an advocate for civil rights, and was the policy maker who proposed that Martin Luther King, Jr. be honored on a national holiday.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics currently lists the national unemployment rate at 4.5% as of December 2016, with a breakdown of Metropolitan Detroit counties at: Macomb County = 4.8%, Oakland County = 3.7%, St. Clair County = 5.6%, and Wayne County = 5.7% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). For instance, 15.3 % of Black men aged 20-24 are unemployed, double that of their white counterparts whose unemployment rate is 7.9% (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). Another alarming finding from this data is that the average total unemployment rate for men aged 16-19 was 16.9%, a rate that is 4 times higher than men ages 25 and up (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017) “The widest gaps, when black unemployment was as much as 2.77 times that of white unemployment, came in the late 1980’s, as the manufacturing sectors that employed disproportionate shares of African-Americans shriveled” (DeSilver, 2013). Researchers hypotheses range from human capital deficiencies, self-fulfilling competitive market mechanisms, to implicit biases; however, whichever theory or research model one chooses there is insurmountable evidence demonstrating that discrimination against the black population in the employment sector exists.
- Section 1.07C The general expectation that social workers will keep information confidential does not apply when disclosure is necessary to prevent serious, foreseeable, and imminent harm to a client or other identifiable person (NASW, 2008). It’s therefore important to note that if in the course of these research studies, an employer were to disclose any statements that would imply foreseeable and imminent harm to another person, their identifiable information would therefore be released for the purpose of informing designated authorities. There is a historical trauma, that is especially still ongoing with the harmful presidency and its rhetoric serving to perpetuate dominant culture, that contributes to the experiences of the people of Detroit, and that those experiences shape their perceptions of language use and how its associated with the stigma that’s vastly perpetuated by the media. It’s vastly important to remain conscious of my use of language in all my approaches in practice to ensure not only my own competence, but to ensure my practice is also culturally-responsive. Section 1.05B “Social workers should have a knowledge base of their clients’ cultures and be able to demonstrate competence in the provision of services that are sensitive to clients’ cultures and to differences among people and cultural groups” (Code of Ethics, 2008). With this comes the responsibility as a researcher to not only observe groups from the outside from an anthropological perspective, but to engage with those who are oppressed, have authentic dialogue and learn from each other on how to help one another exist in a society that is constantly pitting one person against another. Keeping this in mind, the researcher has been engaging in the community of Detroit since September of 2016 through working in and with the community and participating in activist efforts.
- MLK Event This community event served as an outlet for social activists, community leaders, and community members alike to be able to voice their profound discontent for the continuing social inequity that continues to be so pervasive in our country, and especially in Detroit The centrality of a strengths-based approach served to empower group participants by revitalizing each individual’s commitment to the social movement to which they identified. The experiences conveyed during this event also demonstrated substantial support for this research paper’s hypothesis, and by participating in further events related to addressing the issue of unemployment in Detroit it helps not only to validate research findings, but increase the cultural humility and empathic understanding surrounding the issue as well. Replication The researcher therefore proposes conducting similar field research by replicating experimental audit studies in Detroit to demonstrate how the pervasive unemployment issue in the black community is impacting our region, especially coupled with the coming of a post-industrial community and the associated shifting dynamics in systems and institutions. This research aims to guide the social work profession in continuing to develop knowledge surrounding this issue to help inform intervention models and practices to best serve our clients. Section 5.01B According to the NASW Code of Ethics Section 5.02 (b), social workers also hold the responsibility to, “promote and facilitate evaluation and research to contribute to the development of knowledge” (Code of Ethics, 2008). SW vs. Stat Reserachers Through the integration of the NASW Code of Ethics and Core Principles, knowledge on evidence-based research models, and a passion to confront and combat social injustice, social workers recognize the importance of community in their approach to research and use that as an asset to their practice.
- These findings point to the importance of modeling discrimination as a process rather than a single-point outcome, with disparities in premarket skills acquisition, barriers to labor market entry, and wage differentials each part of a larger employment trajectory and shaped to differing degrees by discrimination” (Pager & Shepherd, 2008). With the relevant literature, data, policy research and community engagement experiences, it can therefore be concluded that discrimination against the black population in the employment sector does exist.