Segregation in Education and Work

Have you ever wondered why employers in some companies have a large number of employees of the same race and only a few other races and ethnicity? If so, why does that happen? In July 2015, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a report of African American workforce demographics. The demographics showed that in 1966, the participation rate for African American officials and managers is less than 1%. Fortunately, the percentage increased to 6% by 2013. After that, it started declining again, decreasing by 2.44%. There are a lot of companies in the United States of America that consists of only a few workers who are of different race and ethnicity. Workplace segregation is an issue in the United States caused by residential segregation, education and skill level, and labor market segregation.

First, workplace segregation in the United States is present because of residential segregation. The neighborhood is an important place that can impact an individual’s social interaction and career decisions. The author Magnus Stromgren writes about the issue, and he came to the conclusion that African Americans such as the blacks live in a neighborhood with very few whites. This is because African Americans lack access to economic resources to settle in whites’ neighborhoods. This led to African Americans preferring to live with their own kind of people because they feel comfortable with each other. Furthermore, discrimination against African Americans in the housing market also causes them to live in different neighborhoods. Neighborhoods with an intense amount of African Americans usually stay really far away from the workplace. Due to time and financial constraints, most of them that are in segregated areas tend to refuse job opportunities offered to them that are far away from them. Obviously, when living in an isolated neighborhood, people there will be less exposed to the whites. This issue caused the minorities to have an effect on a neighborhood-based job-finding network. Unfortunately, that shows a sign of segregation in the workplace.

Second, the education and skill level of an individual also plays a huge role in workplace segregation. The level of education and skills of a person based on their race and ethnicity in the United States are possibly linked. Furthermore, African Americans usually have low proficiency in English. During a job interview, a person that is unable to provide English skills that employers require can give them a bad impression. Employers often reject interviewees with low English proficiency without hesitation and do not consider other skills that the person has. Then, they would only get jobs from industrial employers because they do not require a high level of education or work experience. Those people that accept the job offer are sole because of poverty reasons, however, their jobs are usually very dangerous and tiring, completely different than white people’s work. Based on the novel A Lesson Before Dying, the education level for blacks is way far behind than of that of whites. This is because black schools do not have adequate resources and an ideal environment for the students to study in. The quality of teaching and learning in black schools is unable to achieve its highest capacity nor on par with white schools. Most of the books are handed down from white schools. This results in students having to share books in order to study. In addition, the condition of books handed down from white schools is not the greatest as well. Some come with either torn pages, missing pages, or just overall bad. Thus, African Americans are concentrated in certain jobs and industries in certain areas. In short, a lack of education and skills causes workplace segregation.

Furthermore, labor market segregation can also lead to workplace segregation. In the United States, African Americans are mostly located in southeastern states, hence most of them just work there. Workers living in a low-income neighborhood or a segregated neighborhood can be stigmatized in the labor market. From the employers’ perspective, living in a low-income or segregated neighborhood indicates low worker productivity. Not only that, individuals may find it difficult to integrate into the labor market with the white labor force. It takes time for them to learn the appropriate skills, working attitude, and ability of what the white labor force requires. This is because when African Americans are in the labor market with a white labor force, they are harassed, are absent in their co-workers' sight, and have a less organizational commitment in the workplace. Not only that, African Americans’ past work experience, knowledge, and qualifications earned by them are not equally applicable in the white labor force requirements. Among them, the human skills deficit approach sees job differences such as workers’ education, experience, and skills. Employers also discriminate against black workers’ performance by stereotyping them and not helping them improve. In short, African Americans prefer to work in an environment where it is concentrated with workers that have the same race as them.

In conclusion, residential segregation, lack of education and skills, and labor market segregation are the few major causes that lead to workplace segregation. Ultimately, the goal is to achieve a community where white and black people could all work comfortably with no discrimination. It is important that white and black people should communicate with each other more. Also, white people should help African Americans solve and prevent difficulties faced in living in a new area and not make fun of them and discriminate against them. We all should help one another regardless of their race and ethnicity, helping other people does not harm us, only hindrance does. As a result, you will never know when you need help as well. I believe, if you are willing to help anybody, anybody would also be willing to help you regardless. People today have to start realizing this issue that is going on in the United States and start changing their perspective toward people of other races. Planning and taking precautions before doing something is vital to us. We should also care about the country because once if a problem goes out of hand, there is no point of crying over spilled milk.