Equal pay is an issue at the forefront of the women’s rights issues, but according to a recent study black women suffer the most, receiving 39 percent less than white men and 21 percent less than white women. The numbers are still low even when controlled for industry, occupation, and education yet the equal pay gap is just one of many barriers to financial opportunity that black women face in the workplace.
Black Women’s Equal Pay Day was celebrated this past week on August 22nd and two organizations, LeanIn.Org and SurveyMonkey, partnered to conduct new research to measure Americans awareness of racial issues in the workplace. They found that only half of Americans think these obstacles still exist. The survey also revealed that black women struggle more than their white peers to gain access to senior leaders, mentorship, and training and they are also less likely to be promoted or gain support from managers despite working hard and asking for assistance.
The report offers recommendations to companies that can end pay gaps such as auditing compensation data regularly to maintain fairness and being more transparent about pay ranges for different roles. Managers can also require diversity in candidates when considering promotions, train employees to identify and challenge biases, and strengthen mentorship, sponsorship, and leadership training by encouraging diversity.
“While many Americans don’t realize the pay gap for Black women exists, black women and their families certainly feel the effects. If the pay gap were closed, the average Black woman would earn almost $950,000 more over the course of her career—a staggering figure, especially when you consider nearly 4 in 10 Americans say they’d struggle to cover an unexpected $400 expense,” said Rachel Thomas, co-founder and CEO of LeanIn.Org, in a press statement about the survey.
Another survey about the aspirations of black women to be entrepreneurs was done by Northern Mutual that showed most women of color would start their own business if the right elements were in place. Also, organizations are emerging to help women and minorities gain funding such has Startup Runway.
