End Occupational Segregation

Occupational segregation is the overrepresentation or underrepresentation of certain groups of workers in certain jobs or fields of work. Black Americans are overrepresented in low-wage service jobs in health care, retail, and accommodation and food service, and they are underrepresented in high-wage jobs in fields such as engineering, technology, finance, medicine, law, and other so-called “knowledge” professions. Occupational segregation is a leading contributor to the fact that Black Americans experience lower wages overall and higher unemployment rates than their white peers across education levels. It also diminishes workers’ job security, career advancement opportunities, and ability to accumulate and hold on to wealth.

We must note that the severity of these challenges can vary based on other dimensions of identity, notably gender: Black women experience more significant pay and advancement gaps than Black men, while Black boys and men fare worse in educational settings. We propose strategies targeted to advance Black Americans struggling in our economy while noting that a more nuanced approach to implementation may be necessary to sufficiently address these differential experiences.

This section explores two approaches to ending occupational segregation:

Eliminate Discrimination in the Labor Market and the Workplace

Hiring, Wages, and Advancement

All too often, education and training strategies focus exclusively on people without in-demand skills and credentials, as if it’s the only barrier—or the primary barrier—to labor market success. The hope is well-intentioned but misplaced. These approaches are built on the assumption that once Black Americans have the same level of education as white Americans they will have the same level of access to good jobs that pay well and offer opportunities for career advancement. But across the board, they don’t. We must name and address these pernicious challenges within our workforce and economic systems to make meaningful progress on Black economic advancement, particularly with an eye to the growing digital economy.

In fact, Black people who attend college and graduate with in-demand skills and credentials are not able to fully leverage them because of pervasive racism in the labor market. Black workers face discrimination and bias in hiring, wages, and advancement. Even theoretically objective and meritocratic tests for hiring disproportionately rule out Black candidates who are equally or more qualified for opportunities.

In addition to facing hiring challenges, Black workers face deficits in social capital. Social capital is a critical asset that consists of connections and networks that help people access and navigate the labor market and other opportunities. Black people, and particularly Black women, are less likely than their white counterparts to find sponsors or mentors in the workplace , which contributes to a lower likelihood of securing promotions or other types of advancement.

The Facts

Hiring
- On average, applications from candidates with a “Black name” get fewer callbacks than similar applications bearing a “white name.”
- The percentage of Black Americans among college graduates with degrees in computer science and computer engineering has been found to be twice as high as the percentage of Black Americans in the workforces of leading tech companies.
Wages
- While inflation-adjusted hourly wages and annual income have risen for Black workers since 1968, they still lag behind those of white workers at every level of education.
- Within occupational categories, there is a $96 billion pay gap between Black and white workers.
Advancement
- Black workers experience lower rates of professional advancement than their white peers. Black women in particular are much less likely to be hired into or promoted to managerial roles than members of other racial and gender groups.
- Black workers and Black women in particular are less likely to find sponsors and mentors in the workplace that are critical for advancement. Notably, they find fewer Black exemplars and role models who are successful in technology careers, creating a vicious cycle of exclusion.

We can’t achieve racial economic equity simply by constantly putting the onus on Black learners and workers to acquire more skills and credentials when the evidence shows that Black workers do not get the same opportunities as their white counterparts with identical skills and credentials. Instead, employers must step up to review their own policies and practices for equity. Specifically, employers and policymakers must do more to partner with other players in the learn-and-work ecosystem to increase equitable hiring, compensation, and career advancement opportunities for those who have acquired in-demand skills and earned in-demand credentials.

Actions

Create coalitions of employers and independent evaluators to review company labor market outcomes data and identify and address anti-Black and gender bias in hiring, evaluation, compensation, and advancement.

Promote sponsorship and mentorship opportunities in the workplace to reduce the gap in access to professional networks and social capital that many Black employees experience.

Develop and enforce job quality standards related to compensation, structure, agency, and advancement.

Improve job quality for entry-level and frontline workers (who are disproportionately Black Americans) and build ladders to higher-level jobs with more pay and advancement opportunities.

Policies

Collect and publicly report data from employers on the demographics of their workforces to increase transparency on racial patterns in high-growth industries and occupations.

Establish a national reporting process for all federally funded education and workforce training programs to provide data on the labor market outcomes of students and participants disaggregated for each subpopulation by race, ethnicity, sex, age, and socioeconomic status.

Create a commission to study the impact of skills-based hiring on employment, earnings, and advancement for Black learners and workers in high-growth, high wage industries.

Increase investment in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) so that it has more resources to investigate, regulate, and ultimately prevent hiring and wage discrimination.

Encourage passage of labor laws that support worker rights and worker voice, such as the PRO Act, which would promote workers’ ability to organize collectively without interference or retaliation.

Reimagine Education and Training Systems  

Promote the Attainment of High-Quality and Affordable Credentials With Labor Market Value for Black Americans

Even though a significant driver of the gaps in employment rates and wages can be ascribed to occupational segregation, that is not the only the factor. It is also true that gaps in unemployment rates and compensation between Black and white Americans shrink as educational attainment increases. While foundational and postsecondary education and training can’t be expected to solve all of the racial inequities facing Black Americans, they still remain powerful tools.

We see massive equity gaps in access to and completion of postsecondary education and training, particularly in high-value programs in technology, engineering, and mathematics. While this challenge begins early, as a result of inequities in foundational education and other social determinants, it is exacerbated in high school because of differential access to advanced coursework (such as dual enrollment and AP classes) and college and career navigation services—all of which are critical elements in a successful transition to postsecondary education and high-paying jobs. We must modernize our education and training programs so that all learners, including Black learners, are able to easily, efficiently, and affordably obtain credentials that have value in the labor market.

The Facts

Affordability
- Black students are more likely to require student loans to finance their educations and hold more debt than their white peers. They are also more likely to be victimized by predatory for-profit educational institutions.
- Black students are disproportionately required to take—and pay for—non-credit-bearing remedial courses, which do not advance their progress toward their degrees.
Postsecondary Preparation
- Black students in the United States have made significant strides in high school graduation rates since the 1960s. Approximately 95% of Black people ages 25-29 had a high school diploma in 2020, nearly reaching the 96% diploma attainment of their white peers.
- Despite this progress, Black students do not match their white peers in preparation for advanced math and science programs, which present a barrier to entry into computing, engineering, and data-related fields later on. They have lower test scores in math and science, and lower enrollment in courses such as AP Computer Science.
- Schools in predominantly-Black neighborhoods are consistently less-resourced than schools in predominantly-white neighborhoods, contributing to higher class sizes, fewer honors, AP, or dual enrollment opportunities, and higher guidance counselor caseloads, which further contributes to disparities in college and career awareness and readiness, especially as relates to preparation for high-value fields.
- These challenges are exacerbated by bias (implicit and explicit) against Black students.
Postsecondary Performance
- Black students in the United States have made progress in postsecondary credential attainment since the 1960s. About 37% of Black adults ages 25-29 had an associate’s degree or higher by 2020. Unfortunately, this is still nearly 20 percentage points lower than their white peers.
- Black Americans are underrepresented in college majors associated with the fastest-growing, highest-paying occupations.
- Nearly equal proportions of Black and white college students declare a STEM major. By the third year of college, only 30% of Black STEM majors persist in their field, compared with 50% of white STEM majors.
- Black students only make up ~6% of coding bootcamp graduates each year.

Survey data demonstrates that Black learners aspire to pursue higher education at similar or higher rates than their white peers. But they earn postsecondary credentials at far lower rates than their white peers. One significant factor contributing to this gap is the cost of postsecondary education and training, a barrier that disproportionately impacts Black Americans due to the Black-white wealth gap. Furthermore, given that Black students have less access to strategies for earning college credit in high school and are more likely to be required to take remedial college coursework that they must pay for but that does not contribute to attaining their degree, the cost of their postsecondary education can be higher than that of their white peers. Black students are more likely to need student loans to finance their educations, and they may also need to work. For many Black students, the reality of juggling these responsibilities simultaneously does not set them up for current or future success.

We need new ways of thinking about education and training to optimize this economic engine. Seeing the pursuit of secondary education, postsecondary education, and then a career as a linear process is an antiquated mindset in our changing economy, in which students may need to drop out of school to work, and workers may need to return to school to learn new skills. With this in mind, we advocate thinking beyond existing systems.

We must reimagine current systems to focus on promoting one goal above all others for Black Americans: high-quality, affordable, in-demand credentials that lead to high-quality jobs and careers that can help people propel themselves into the middle class.

Actions

Promote “skills and” talent development approaches. Skills-based hiring and talent management can help reduce equity gaps created by traditional four-year degree requirements in hiring and advancement. Incorporating prior learning assessments and competency-based education can also accelerate degree or credential completion for Black learners. Moving towards a skills-based approach can yield rewards across the learn-and-work ecosystem.

Advocate for and support implementation of strategies that “blur,” eliminate, and ease the transition from secondary education to postsecondary education and careers; measure their impact on the progression of Black learners in high-growth, high-wage programs of study. The difficulty navigating the jumps between these systems has failed Black learners for decades. It is time to pursue new approaches that abandon our outmoded and disjointed systems in favor of student-centric approaches and outcomes.

Lean into lifelong learning as a key element of the future of work. Engage postsecondary institutions and employers to create and expand access to lifelong learning opportunities, including training and retraining programs, with a focus on ensuring that Black learners and workers have access to the skills they need to navigate employment transitions and continue to advance in their careers over time.

Policies

Actions

K-12 systems, postsecondary institutions, and employers must partner to create career-connected learning pathways starting in high school with an emphasis on transferable digital skills, math preparation, and soft skills for all learners.

The learn-and-work ecosystem must partner with postsecondary institutions to ensure that every credential they offer holds labor market value. That may include discontinuing some majors, and/or adding digital and technical skills certificates to others.

Educators and employers must incorporate high-quality internships and work-based learning opportunities at every stage in education and training to improve Black learners’ exposure to, preparation for, and placement in well-paying jobs and industries.

Policies

Set equity targets for postsecondary credential attainment, with an explicit focus on Black students earning high-quality credentials.

Examine and make needed changes to education and workforce performance measures to ensure that metrics and resulting actions result in positive outcomes for Black learners. 

Reward education and workforce development providers based on their performance in closing equity gaps in enrollment and completion, specifically in programs that prepare Black learners for high-demand, high-wage occupations.  

Reform school funding formulas at the federal and state levels to ensure that K-12 schools are funded more equitably.

Strengthen and build up career pathways for education and training providers to ensure that the faculties of K-12 and postsecondary systems are more racially and ethnically diverse.

Actions

Expand access to stackable short-term credentialing opportunities for Black learners and workers. Short-term programs, such as boot camps, industry-recognized credentials, certifications, and online badges, are a rapidly expanding option for people who want to build new skills and change jobs quickly. They can also provide on-ramps to further education and career advancement. However, Black Americans are underrepresented in short-term programs that connect to jobs with high wages. The learn-and-work ecosystem must further explore and document programs and strategies that support Black Americans to enroll, complete, and leverage high-quality short-term credentials—whether for job placement, earnings gains, or as a path to further education.

Reduce barriers to entry to postsecondary education and training: Institutions must offer on-ramps and entry points to meet all learners where they are. These include stackable short-term credentials as described above, as well as articulation agreements between community colleges and four-year universities, apprenticeships that include college credit, and more.

Postsecondary institutions must reduce the administrative burdens that students from low-income backgrounds face when they try to access benefits and also offer financial aid and/or learn-and-earn opportunities to support learners who are unable to sacrifice income.

Create inclusive environments. Work with K-12 and postsecondary education and training institutions to ensure that their systems, processes, administrators, and instructors are shaping environments that are hospitable to and supportive of all learners, including Black learners.

Policies

Invest in high-quality career services and navigational supports for youth and adults that are accessible and are aligned across education and workforce development systems, so that individuals have access to timely and reliable information on job and skill requirements. Also, invest in tools and supports designed to help people develop their career identities, make plans, build networks, and engage in self-advocacy throughout their lives.  

Support policies that will close the digital divide—which disproportionately affects Black learners—including initiatives that promote universal access to broadband, expand access to devices, and provide digital literacy training to all students.

Make college affordable by doubling the size of Pell Grants and implementing national and state College Promise programs.

Provide public financial assistance to individuals to pay for short-term industry-recognized credential programs by expanding eligibility for Pell Grants and increasing investment in individual training accounts. Put the right quality mechanisms in place to ensure that credentials are of high value in the labor market, stackable, and offered through career pathways approaches to ensure equitable outcomes for participants.

Advance innovative financing models for short-term credentials, including income-contingent financing products, lifelong learning accounts, pay for success programs, and other approaches that shift the payment burden away from low-earning and unemployed workers and onto schools, investors, employers, and governments.

Eliminate postsecondary institutional practices of withholding transcripts and disallowing course enrollment due to small balances of unpaid fees (such as on-campus parking tickets).

Actions

Enable Black high school students to start accumulating college credit—through dual enrollment, early college, AP, or other programs as soon and as much as possible.

In postsecondary environments, ensure that developmental education is high-quality, equitable, credit-bearing, and accelerated. Provide more robust credit for prior learning and competency-based models that can credit prior life and career experience toward degrees.