Page 156 - Discrimination at Work The Psychological and Organizational Bases

6. RACE COMPOSITION
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The slice of the pertinent literature we have chosen to highlight em­
phasizes the importance of the environments in which organizations are
embedded as determinants of sex and race composition. We have not given
much attention here to attributes of organizations per se (e.g., their size)
as determinants of composition or the consequences of composition (e.g.,
the stresses that may be experienced by minority workers). In addition,
whereas the focus of this chapter is on race, the composition literature
focuses on sex, as is also the case with the organizational psychology liter­
ature (e.g., Brief & Hayes, 1997; Cox & Nkomo, 1990). Consequently, our
assertions about race often will be based upon findings regarding sex.
The Most Obvious
Although not of particular theoretical concern here, it is important to note,
at least briefly, the most obvious: The racial composition of the labor pools
available to an organization should influence its race composition (e.g.,
Holzer, 1998). (Please note the term "available" refers to those whom an
organization could recruit, not necessarily to those whom it does recruit.)
Moreover, across jobs, the racial composition of labor pools varies, with
pools for those jobs requiring higher levels of skills comprising relatively
fewer Blacks. This is so, in part, because the educational attainment of
Blacks continues to lag behind that of Whites, even though the gap has
narrowed over time (e.g., Mare, 1995; Neal & Johnson, 1996; U.S. Bureau
of the Census, 2002b). Thus, the race composition of available labor pools
should influence both the representation and distribution of Blacks in an
organization (i.e., who is hired and where they are placed).

The Less Obvious

The race composition of the labor pools available to an organization can be
taken as an aspect of the social structure of the organization's environment,
and, as such, it gains in theoretical import. If, in available labor markets,
Blacks were found to be proportionally overrepresented in the pools for
low-skill, low-wage level jobs and underrepresented in those pools for
high-skill, high-wage level jobs, then, as indicated above, one would expect
a similar representation in jobs occupied. In fact, this is so as was hinted at
earlier. For example, although Blacks comprise 11.3% of the total civilian
labor force in the United States, they make up only 3.1 % of architects; 5.5%
of engineers; 5.6% of physicians; 5.6% of pharmacists; and 5.1% of lawyers
(U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2002a). Alternatively, Blacks comprise 22.4%
of mail clerks (except postal service); 25.6% of guards; 32.7% of nursing
aides, orderlies, and attendants; 21.9% of maids and housemen; 23.6% of