Study: job market discriminates against black graduates
According to a recent study, recent black graduates face a particularly difficult situation when finding work after school.
The report, released by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, states that the unemployment rate for recent grads who are black was almost twice that of overall recent college grads.
Downturns are typically harder on young workers than on their older counterparts, and the black jobless rate has been consistently almost double the white jobless rate for the past 60 years. Combine these two factors, and you get a job market that’s particularly hostile to young black Americans leaving college.
A huge part of the problem is job market discrimination. One study found that job applicants with “black sounding” names were less likely to get called back for an interview than their counterparts who had “white sounding” names.
Black men tend to be drastically underrepresented in management and professional positions, but over-represented in low-wage work.
A 2011 study found that a $10,000 increase in the average annual income of an occupation translated into a 7 percentage point drop in the share of black me holding that position.
Thoughts on the study’s findings?
What’s the key to gainful employment for recent black grads?
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