The Understudied Case of Black Professional Men: Advocating an Intersectional Approach

This paper considers potential new areas for sociology of work research. Specifically, we review some key studies in the sociology of work that identify the processes by which workplaces and labor markets recreate racial and gendered inequality. We then examine the ways that intersectionality theory has generated additional insights into how certain groups are disadvantaged at work. Finally, we make the case that using an intersectional approach to explore the occupational challenges, opportunities, and issues facing black professional men offers a new and important direction for research in the sociology of work.     

Occupational Race Segregation,Globalization, and White Advantage: White-Black Earnings Inequality in U.S. Metropolitan Areas

Addressing the need to systematically assess the materialist foundations of color-blind racism, we use insights from critical race theory to investigate the metropolitan-level racial inequality at the turn of the century. Namely, we examine the association between occupational race segregation and white advantage (i.e., white-black earnings inequality) for men and women in 202 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas in the year 2000. We find that occupational race segregation exacerbates white advantage for both male and female workers, supporting the tenets of the materialist conception of color-blind racism. We also consider how processes of globalization and labor market transformation impact white advantage. Our findings indicate that global capital increases white advantage for males, whereas foreign direct investment and casualization serve to decrease it. They also indicate that exports decrease white advantage for females, whereas percent foreign born increases it.     

UNDEREMPLOYMENT AND RACIAL COMPETITION IN LOCAL LABOR MARKETS

The primary concern in this paper is to analyze the effects of black population concentration on black and white men's relative and absolute underemployment levels in labor market areas while controlling for the degree of occupational segregation by race. We draw hypotheses from two primary bodies of research; one literature focuses on general racial competition and the other considers competition to be more limited. Our findings that racial inequality in underemployment levels increases with blacks' population share are most consistent with the general competition model. However, we also find some support for the limited competition model which holds that not all whites benefit from increased competition with blacks. Finally, we find that occupational segregation helps to determine the form that racial discrimination in employment adequacy takes. Where occupational segregation is high, black men hold relatively more low-wage jobs, but where occupational segregation is low, they experience higher levels of unemployment and more disadvantage relative to whites.     

If all you have is a hammer,everything looks like a nail: Operationalization matters

Operationalization has been the focus of less research than many other methodological topics. In this article, we argue that considering operational decisions is particularly critical for those who study stratification, because measures of inequality often involve multiple layers of operationalization: researchers first decide how to assign individuals to social groups (e.g., race), which are then themselves used to construct measures of group‐level differences and inequality (e.g., racial segregation). We provide examples of this by drawing on contemporary debates about how to operationalize social groups based on class, race, gender, and religion. Then we discuss three examples (religion, racial segregation, and family type) of second layer operationalization decisions, focusing on the consequences of operational decisions for research findings. We conclude by discussing the broader implications of operational decisions, focusing particularly on issues of power and applications for policy makers.     

Gender In/equality in Worker‐owned Businesses

Gender scholars have developed a significant body of scholarship on the reproduction of gender inequality in work organizations. However, the vast majority of that research has been conducted in non‐profit organizations or in employer‐owned businesses. In this article, we review the existing literature on gender in worker‐owned businesses. We begin by defining three distinctly different types of worker‐owned businesses: companies with employee stock ownership plans, worker cooperatives, and communes. Next we review the limited research on gender inequality in each of these organizational forms. The current literature finds that women benefit from working in these alternative organizations, but gender disparities nevertheless persist due to occupational segregation and the devaluation of domestic work. Exceptions are those organizations with strong ties to feminism and those with formal power‐sharing policies. Granted the scarcity of research on this topic, however, these conclusions are tentative. We conclude with a discussion of areas for further research.     

Explaining gender segregation

Occupational gender segregation--the tendency for women and men to work in different occupations--is an important feature of all societies, and particularly the wealthy industrialized ones. To understand this segregation, and to explain its significance, we need to distinguish between vertical segregation entailing inequality and horizontal segregation representing difference without inequality, with overall segregation being the resultant of these components. Three major theoretical approaches to understanding occupational gender segregation are examined: human capital/rational choice, patriarchy, and preference theories. All are found to be inadequate; they tend to confuse overall segregation with its vertical component, and each entails a number of other faults. It is generally assumed or implied that greater empowerment of women would reduce gender segregation. This is the reverse of what actually happens; in countries where the degree of women's empowerment is greater, the level of gender segregation is also greater. An alternative theoretical approach based on processes of social reproduction is shown to be more useful.     

Women's relationships with women at work: Barriers to solidarity

Voluminous scholarship documents the wage gap, occupational segregation, sexual harassment, and other forms of gender inequality at work. Few sociological studies explore women's work relationships with other women. Our article summarizes existing research from several disciplines on women's working relationships with other women. Specifically, three themes about the conditions of work emerge that discourage women's support for other women: (a) negative stereotypes about women, (b) lack of recognition of gender inequality, and (c) the devaluation of women's relationships, groups, and networks. We assert that these conditions reinforce essentialized notions of women, ignore larger structural inequalities at work, and cast women as the primary culprit in perpetuating gender inequality at work. We conclude with promising areas for future research on women's working relationships with other women.     

Do magnet and charter schools exacerbate or ameliorate inequality?

School choice typically refers to opportunities to enroll youth in public and/or private educational alternatives to traditional neighborhood public schools. While these options continue to grow in the United States under the umbrella of school choice, magnet and charter schools are the most common forms of public school choice. In this article, we review the development of school choice and the differing historical and philosophical origins of magnet and charter schools. We then summarize what we know about the extent to which these public choice options exacerbate or ameliorate two forms of inequality—academic achievement and school segregation by race and class. Research suggests that magnet schools often encourage racial and class diversity, while charters contribute to racial and socioeconomic isolation. While low‐income minority students may benefit academically from attending magnet schools, it is unclear whether charter schools have any effect on achievement when comparing charter school students to their counterparts in traditional public school. We expect that continued growth of magnet schools will likely promote school diversity both within and between districts, though some types of magnets may also inadvertently promote segregation. However, expansion of the charter school sector will heighten school segregation and exacerbate racial and socioeconomic isolation.     

Racemaking in New Orleans: racial boundary construction among ideologically diverse college students

We explore how an ideologically diverse group of white students at Tulane University respond to evidence of racial inequality in post-Katrina New Orleans. In line with prior research, we find commonalities in racialized attitudes and behaviours between students whose racial ideologies otherwise differ. Drawing from anthropological theories of boundary construction and sociological work on colour-blind racism, we argue that the Otherization of non-whites is part of the everyday worldviews and social practices of white Americans. We draw on fieldwork in New Orleans to demonstrate that racist stereotypes and beliefs in racial difference continue to be transmitted within white social spaces. We find that even the most progressive Tulane students are engaged in the construction and reinforcement of symbolic and spatial boundaries between themselves and African Americans. This achieves the purpose for which racial stereotypes were originally constructed – namely, the persistence of racial inequality.     

THE EFFECTS OF OCCUPATIONAL GENDER SEGREGATION ACROSS RACE

The general relationship between occupational gender segregation and earnings inequality is well documented, although few studies have examined the relationship separately by race/ethnicity. This article investigates occupational gender segregation effects across whites, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians. In addition, we explore two ways in which segregation may affect earnings: (1) by lowering the earnings of workers in female-dominated occupations and (2) by lowering the earnings of all workers in highly segregated labor markets. Our central findings are that both segregation effects contribute to earnings inequality and that the effects are observed quite broadly across racial/ethnic groups, although they particularly impact the earnings of African American women.     

Hiding in plain sight: Dehumanization as a foundation of white racial prejudice

In the media, during sporting events, in online forums, and in interpersonal interactions, whites often portray Black people as animals, especially as apes or monkeys. In this essay we consider what contemporary research on prejudice in American politics has to say about these dehumanizing portrayals of Black people. We argue that contemporary political science work has not done enough to understand both the historical roots and the continuing practices of whites' dehumanization of Black people, to the detriment of an accurate understanding of racial attitudes in the United States. To rectify this omission, we draw on the work of historians to map out a brief overview of race-making and the dehumanizing attitudes that shaped this process. Then, we review political science literature on contemporary white attitudes toward Black people, emphasizing connections between prevailing conceptions of these attitudes and long-standing processes of dehumanization. We conclude by charting directions for future scholarship; we seek to unsettle the mainstream of a subfield dominated by mild conceptions of racial attitudes.     

The production of racial inequality within and among organizations

This article examines the production of racial inequality. Although most research concerned with racial inequality focuses exclusively on individuals, we argue that higher level actors, namely, organizations, contend with racial inequality in much the same way that people do. Using prior research on race and organizations, this paper illustrates that understanding how organizations produce and experience racial inequality is necessary. We argue that racial inequality regimes have the capacity to operate on people, but also among organizations.     

Racial Residential Segregation in Urban America

There are numerous causes and consequences of racial residential segregation in American metropolitan areas, and a long-standing literature is filled with debates about them. We provide an overview of the trends and patterns regarding racial residential segregation, focusing primarily on blacks and whites. We pay special attention to the competing arguments about race and class in the context of residential stratification. We then discuss the many causes of residential segregation, and its social and economic consequences. After the overview, we identify key gaps in the literature. We discuss three broad substantive areas of research that expand the study of racial residential segregation: (i) the everyday experiences of race, class, and gender disadvantage as they are related to segregation; (ii) contemporary immigration streams and their impact on black-white residential dynamics; and (iii) the power of political-economic forces to transform residentially segregated spaces, with a particular emphasis on processes related to gentrification and home mortgage lending.     

ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION AND WOMEN'S STATUS IN THE LABOR MARKET:

This study examines the effects of economic globalization on occupational sex segregation and occupational inequality. A theory of global economic restructuring and its impact on the quality of women's work suggests that national integration into the world economy significantly expands opportunities for women in the workplace but does not remove barriers to women's advancement or ameliorate the predominance of low-paying, menial jobs held by women. Two measures of gender occupational differentiation are employed as dependent variables in cross-sectional OLS regression analyses of fifty-six countries using data from 1970–1990. Results indicate that global economic forces reduce occupational sex segregation and inequality. However, these effects are determined by a country's world system position and region. The analyses illustrate that global economic restructuring is a gendered process that transforms and builds upon existing gender inequalities. Therefore, the inclusion of global structural characteristics into comparative research on occupational sex differentiation is essential.     

The Role of Social Networks in Getting a Job

This article reviews recent research on the effect s of social networks on access to job information and getting a job in the United States. Drawing on network ties from friends, family members, acquaintances, employers, or coworkers can improve the job search because individuals gain access to and make use of their network’s social capital. While this job searching strategy can result in a successful job search for some, not all job seekers benefit from reliance on social networks. We spotlight research that documents how reliance on social networks as a means to find work can actually maintain sex and racial/ethnic inequality at work. We discuss research documenting the important role social networks play in the job acquisition process. The last half of this review focuses on several new developments in the literature that promise to further our understanding of social networks’ lasting effects on employment outcomes.     

Inequality,Health Infrastructure,and Spatial Context: Understanding Pathways to Variations in the Causal Determinants of Race-Specific Mortality Rates

Previous research examines the ecological relationship between income inequality and mortality, and results are inconclusive. This analysis builds upon these findings by implementing a spatially weighted path analysis to better understand the mediating relationships of economic and social inequality, health infrastructure, and mortality. In the analysis, overall and race-specific mortality rates are combined with local health infrastructure data, income inequality and racial segregation data, and a series of ecological controls to undertake this examination. Ultimately, findings show that income inequality is a stronger determinant of mortality than is segregation, for whites and blacks, regardless of the existing health infrastructure. We also find racial disparities in the direct effect of local health infrastructure on mortality. In contrast to previous literature suggesting no association between income inequality and mortality after accounting for race and model sophistication, we argue that the significance of the relationship persists using race-specific, spatially weighted path models.     

Sexual orientation at work: Documenting and understanding wage inequality

A growing body of research focuses on the labor market experiences and outcomes of LGBTQ+ people. Yet sexual orientation has been incorporated unevenly into research on labor market inequality, developing in parallel across work in labor economics and the sociology of work and organizations. In this review, we describe research on sexual orientation and wage inequality, bridging insights from quantitative studies of wage gaps and qualitative work on the organizational and occupational experiences of sexual minorities. We further discuss theoretical developments in the sociology of sexuality to provide background to the concepts and measures both bodies of research employ in practice. We argue that future research should integrate these approaches to consider how local and diffuse cultural understandings of sexual orientation shape the valuation of workers.     

Critical standpoint: Leaders of color advancing racial equality in predominantly white organizations

Organizations are often core sites for the production and perpetuation of social inequality. Although the United States is becoming more racially diverse, organizational elites remain disproportionately white, and this mismatch contributes to increasing racial inequality. This article examines whether and how leaders of color within predominantly white organizations can help their organizations address racial inequality. Our analysis uses data from a national study of politically oriented civic organizations and ethnographic fieldwork within one predominantly white organization. We draw on institutional work research, the outsider‐within concept, and insights from critical whiteness theory to explain how leaders of color can use their position and “critical standpoint” to help guide their organization toward advancing racial equality. The qualitative analysis shows how such leaders, when empowered, help their organization address race internally by (a) providing alternatives to white‐dominated perspectives, (b) developing tools to educate white members about racial inequality, and (c) identifying and addressing barriers to becoming a more racially diverse organization. The qualitative analysis also shows how leaders of color help their organization address race externally by (a) sharing personal narratives about living in a white‐dominated society and (b) brokering collaborations with organizations led by people of color. This research has implications for organizations seeking to promote social equality: Organizational leaders from marginalized status groups can help their organizations address social inequality, if those leaders possess a critical standpoint and sufficient organizational authority.     

Social Heterogeneity and Volunteering in U.S. Cities

In this research we explore the relationship between social heterogeneity and volunteering across U.S. metropolitan areas testing a theory that race heterogeneity, racial segregation, and income inequality are negatively associated with the rate of volunteering. Theorizing that social heterogeneity will have different effects for religious and secular volunteering rates, we analyze them separately. We use nonlinear multilevel models to analyze nearly 200,000 individuals across 248 cities, controlling for nonprofits per capita, religious congregations per capita, proportion of the population with college degrees, and the family poverty rate. While much of the intercity variation in volunteering is due to the composition of the population living in each city, we find general support for the predicted negative effect of social heterogeneity on volunteering. However, the effects vary by volunteering type. Race heterogeneity is negatively related only to secular volunteering, racial segregation is negatively related to both general volunteering and secular volunteering, and income inequality is negatively related to all types of volunteering.