This article describes a simulation activity designed to teach students about the wage gap. The wage gap is an important topic in many sociology classrooms, but it can be difficult to convey the accumulated disadvantage experienced by women and racial/ethnic minorities to students using in-class discussions, lectures, or assigned readings alone.…

A skilled workforce is key to a thriving California economy. Strong and growing demand for highly educated workers has been a hallmark of the state's economy for decades, and forecasts show this demand continuing into the future. If current trends continue, about 40 percent of jobs in California will require at least a bachelor's degree by 2030.…

Many Americans would agree that all people should have equal educational opportunity and equal pay for equal work. And yet, inequality in postsecondary education access, college completion, and post-college outcomes such as wages stubbornly persists, along with the impression that achieving equal outcomes would be too expensive and would take too…

In the past four decades, profound changes in the U.S. economy--including falling wages, widening inequality, and the polarization of jobs at the top and bottom of the education and wage distributions--have had dramatic implications for the labor-market fortunes of young adults. Only about half of young people ages 16 to 24 held jobs in 2014, and…

Consistent with the hypothesis that heightened visibility and competition lead to greater economic discrimination against minorities, countless studies have observed a negative association between minority population concentration and minority socioeconomic attainment. But minorities who reside in areas with high minority concentration are likely…

The ethnic and racial diversity of the residents of the United States of America is one of the country's unique strengths; however, Black, Latinx, Pacific Islander, Native, and certain Asian American workers face wide racial inequities in educational attainment, employment, and income. Additional workforce policies are needed now to counter…

On April 20, 2010, United States President Barack Obama issued a proclamation declaring National Equal Pay Day. In the proclamation it was recognized that despite years of progress in the workforce, women are still not paid as much as men. The proclamation states: Throughout our Nation's history, extraordinary women have broken barriers to achieve…

Presents conclusions from analyses of the economic effects of racial discrimination (based on 1960/1970 censuses and on a national survey of economic status). For example, there appears to be less open discrimination; also, Blacks and Hispanics, whose educational levels are lower than those of the majority, still lag far behind economically. (JN)

In an attempt to achieve equality in employment practices this annual report is presented as an ethnic survey of employees of the executive branch of New York State government. This report compares the data collected in late 1972 with that gathered in three of five previous years: 1967, 1970, and 1971, and tabulates and examines employee…

Comparable worth has emerged as a concept used primarily as a way of establishing equity, particularly in compensation for employed women. Study and implementation of the comparable worth concept are occurring most frequently in state and local governments. State action and federal initiatives are described. (MLW)

Assesses whether Mexican immigrants are closing the earnings gap with greater time in the United States compared with U.S.-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic Whites. It also examines the factors that determine their earnings, how these determinants differ for women versus men, and the differences between those immigrating as children versus…

The National Education Association affiliate in the state of Florida--the United Faculty of Florida--gave the Board of Regents of Florida's State University System a report that documented inequities in hiring, rank and salary, promotion, and pay for women and minorities. The conditions that necessitated the study are detailed. (MLW)

An annual national survey of college and university salaries found chief business officers' salaries rose 4.5 percent in 1996-97, less than the previous year. Salaries of women and minority CBOs continued to gain equity with that of men. Rates of increase varied by institution type. Salary gains for all administrative job types were less than in…

Discusses ways to close the gap between the courts' approach to applying Federal law to sex-based and race-based wage discrimination and the law's potential to change wage inequities. Discusses the Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Explores ways the court applies these laws. (JS)

The 1995 CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) Survey of Institutional Advancement, responded to by 969 advancement professionals at institutions of higher education, examined demographics (sex ratio, minority members); professional backgrounds; job satisfaction; salaries (now averaging $53,000); salary disparities; and the…