Posted on: Sunday, August 3, 2003

Minority women make work force gains

By Rebecca Carroll
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Minority women are getting more private-sector jobs than they were 10 years ago but still face significant workplace challenges, a government report released last week showed.

Minority women made up nearly 15 percent of the private-sector work force in 2001, up about a third from 11 percent in 1990, said the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission study, "Women of Color: Their Employment in the Private Sector."

But many were still concentrated in lower-wage industries and jobs, the report found.

Although minority women have made gains in the workplace, "we see some stubborn patterns needing our attention," said commission chair Cari M. Dominguez. "Too many women of color are concentrated in certain industries and appear to have plateaued in lower occupational categories."

Black women were the largest group studied in the survey. Almost 8 percent of the private-sector work force — more than half of all working minority women — are black women. They are concentrated in lower-wage jobs.

The report found nursing and residential care facilities employed a higher percentage of black women — more than 23 percent — than any other industry. Next was the social assistance field, where black women employees comprise about 18 percent of the work force.

Black women were also over-represented in sales, clerical and service jobs.

The number of Hispanic women in private-sector jobs grew the most in the past 10 years — more than doubling — to just less than 5 percent of all private-sector workers.

The crop production industry has the highest percentage of Hispanic women among its employees — about 19 percent. About 16 percent of agriculture and forestry jobs are filled by Hispanic women. Personal and laundry services rank third for Hispanic women, who make up more than 13 percent of the industry's work force.

"The industries where these women of color are working are not the high-paying jobs," said Melissa Josephs, director of equal opportunity policy at Women Employed. "There's still a need to have a commitment to breaking the glass ceiling."

Asian women, who make up more than 2 percent of the private-sector work force, were generally in better positions. They were most represented in the computer and electronics manufacturing industry, where they comprise nearly 5 percent of the work force.

The number of Asian female managers and officials more than doubled in the past 10 years.

While American Indian women are less than half a percent of the private-sector work force, the number in official or managerial slots nearly doubled in the past 10 years.

Data came from annual surveys that are mandatory for all private-sector businesses with more than 100 employees. In 2001, more than 39,000 such businesses responded, representing 52 million employees.