Affirmative action has increased the hiring, promotion, job stability, and
wages of women and minorities. Affirmative action has opened workplace doors
for women of all colors who historically have been excluded from better-paying
and high-status jobs.
Between 1970 and 1990, the proportion of women physicians doubled from 7.6%
to 16.9%1 From 1973 to 1993, the percentage of women lawyers and
judges grew from 5.8% to 22.7%; and engineers from 1.3% to 8.6%.2
Among federal contractors, who are required to meet affirmative action standards
under Executive Order 11246 and Executive Order 11375, the proportion of women
holding official and manager positions increased from 18% in 1981 to 25% in
1991.3
By 1990, women were increasingly represented in higher-graded civil service
positions as a result of affirmative action programs.
Percentage of Women in Executive Branch Positions,
By Grade, 1974 and 1990 4 |
|
1974 |
1990 |
| GS 1-8 |
67% |
73% |
| GS 9-12 |
27% |
42% |
| GS/GM 13-15 |
5% |
18% |
Senior Exec. Service
or Equivalent |
2% |
11% |
Because of expanded job opportunities, women are less likely to leave or
lose their jobs. One study found that 20-54 year old women experienced greater
job stability between 1965 and 1980 as a result of equal employment opportunity
programs and affirmative action.5 Another study revealed that the
enforcement actions of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, charged
with implementing Executive Order 11246, reduced the quit rates of female
workers.6
Women and minorities experienced psychological benefits from affirmative
action as well. According to a study 1990 General Social Survey data, African-American
women and men whose employers practiced affirmative action showed greater
occupational ambition and were more likely to believe that people are helpful.7
Both women and men benefit from affirmative action measures which increase
women's job opportunities and wages. In the current economy, many families
depend on two-incomes to make ends meet. Among married first-time homebuyers,
82.2% relied on two incomes in 1994 to purchase their home; 74.9% of repeat
homebuyers also depended on two incomes for their home purchase.8
Women Have Not Yet Achieved Parity in the Workforce
Despite these significant gains, women have yet to achieve equality in the
workplace. Women workers are still clustered in a narrow range of low-paying,
low-status occupations and are still excluded from many jobs -- from blue
collar jobs to high-level corporate positions.
The number of women firefighters, police officers, construction workers,
college presidents and corporate heads increased substantially in the 1970's
and 1980's. But women still comprise only 3% of firefighters,9
8% of state and local police officers,10 1.9% of construction workers,11
11.8% of college presidents,12 and 3-5% of the senior-level jobs
in major companies.13
In private industry, white men comprise 65% of officials and managers, with
white women holding 24.8%, minority men 6.5%, and minority women 3.8% of these
positions.14
In the federal government, over half of women workers (56%) are clustered
in technical and clerical jobs, while over two-thirds of men (70.3%) occupy
professional or administrative positions.15 Women hold only one-fourth
of federal government supervisors and only 11% of senior executives.16
The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board estimates women will hold less than
one-third of senior executive positions by the year 2017, at the current rate
of growth.17
The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board found that men are far more likely
to receive promotions than women. Men at the GS 9 level were promoted at a
rate nearly 33% greater than women. At the GS 11 level, men were promoted
at a rate 44% greater than women.18
Responses to a survey of over 8000 white collar federal employees showed
that women workers perceived sex bias in the workplace. Fifty-five percent
of women respondents said that "a woman must perform better than a man to
be promoted." Forty-five percent of women said that "standards are higher
for women than men."19
The Wage Gap Continues
Significant wage gaps based on sex and race also persist. Overall women
make only 71 cents to a man's dollar. White women in 1993 earned 70.8% of
the salary of white men, while black women and Hispanic women were paid 63.7%
and 53.9% respectively.20 The recent narrowing in the wage gap
is more the result of declining male wages than of increasing female earnings.
Even in professional positions in the Executive Branch minority women are
paid 78 cents and 78.6 cents compared to a white man's dollar in these jobs.21
Women with the same training and educational credentials are paid less than
their male counterparts. For example, a study of Class of 1982 Stanford MBA's
found that by 1992 the men in the class were far more likely than the women
to work as CEOs, Vice Presidents, or directors, and, as a result, received
more pay.22
Sixteen percent of men from this class at Stanford held CEO job titles,
while only 2% of women were CEOs. Twenty-three percent of male 1982 Stanford
MBA graduates worked as corporate vice presidents and 15% served as directors,
compared with 10% of women who were Vice Presidents and 8% of women who held
director positions.23
On average, the women Stanford MBA graduates from the Class of 1982 made
73.1% of the salaries of men graduates.24
Holding age constant also does little to eliminate the wage gap. The AMA
found in 1989 that women physicians under age 40 made 66.6% of male salaries,
between 40 and 49 years earned 58.4%, and 50 and over were paid 66.4% of a
male physician's salary.25
| Average Salaries for Executive Branch White
Collar Employees by Race and Sex 26 |
|
Overall White Collar |
Professional |
Administrative |
technical |
| Non-Minority Men |
$44,120 |
$52,656 |
$47,134 |
$30,250 |
| Minority Men |
$35,707 |
$48,154 |
$42,300 |
$26,300 |
| Non-Minority Women |
$30,754 |
$41,383 |
$39,359 |
$23,980 |
| Minority Women |
$27,480 |
$41,050 |
$37,664 |
$23,648 |
Endnotes
l American Medical Association, "Women in Medicine," 993.
2 Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unpublished Tabulations from the Current Population
Survey, 1963 - 1993.
3 Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Employer Information Reports
submitted by federal contractors with 50 or more employees and a contract
for $50,000 or more.
4 U.S. Merit Systems Board, Women in the Federal Government: Perspectives
on the Glass Ceiling, 1991.
5 Noel Uri and J. Wilson Mixon, "Effects of U.S. Equal Employment and Affirmative
Action Programs on Women's Employment Stability," Quality and Quantity
26: 113~-120, 1992.
6 Paul Osterman, "Affirmative Action and Opportunity: A Study of Female Quit
Rates," Review of Economics and Statistics 64: 604~-612,1982.
7 Marylee Taylor, "Impact of Affirmative Action on Beneficiary Groups," Basic
and Applied Social Psychology, (1994).
8 Chicago Title and Trust Family of Title Insurers Survey, January 1995, p.
6.
9 1993 U.S. Statistical Abstract, No. 637.
10 National Criminal Justice Reference Sources, 1994.
11 1993 U.S. Statistical Abstract, No. 637.
12 "Who Heads the Nation's Colleges," New York Times, September 29,
1993.
13 Glass Ceiling Commission, Good for Business: Making Full Use of the
Nation's Capital, March 1995, 10.
14 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Job Patterns for Minorities
and Women in Private Industry, 1991.
15 Federal Civilian Workforce Statistics Demographic Profile of the Federal
Workforce/i>, September 30, 1992, Office of Personnel Management.
16 U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, A Question of Equity: Women and
the Glass Ceiling in the Federal Government, October 1992, 1.
17 Ibid., 10.
18 1bid.,12.
19 1bid.,31.
20 National Committee on Pay Equity, "The Wage Gap: 1993."
21 Federal Civilian Workforce Statistics Demographic Profile of the Federal
Workforce,September 30,1992, Office of Personnel Management, 27.
22 Bette Woody and Carol Weiss, "Barriers to Workplace Advancement," Report
to the Department of Labor Glass Ceiling Commission, December 20,1993.
23 Ibid.
24 Ibid.
25 American Medical Association, Women in Medicine in America, 1991,
27.
26 Federal Civilian Workforce, 27.
Copyright 2000, The Feminist Majority Foundation and New Media Publishing
Inc.
