Observations on race and earnings
By Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch
When it comes to race and earnings Professor Ronald Mincy's study made a number of observations. Here is a sample of statements taken from various points in the 222-page report:
● "At every level of education, including college, and in every industry, including construction and the international sector, black Bermudian men earn less than comparable white Bermudian men. These persistent gaps may discourage some young Bermudian men from obtaining more education or seeking employment in higher-paying industries, which require more education. They may also encourage black Bermudian men with higher education to leave the Island in search of fair returns on their investments in education."
● "It is difficult to determine how large a role race plays uniquely in the predicted earnings gap between young black and white Bermudian men because industry of employment accounts for 57 percent of the gap, but both race and educational attainment are associated with industry of employment. Jobs in international and business service companies, which pay higher wages than jobs in other industries, are more likely to require higher education, but black Bermudian men obtain fewer college degrees than white Bermudian men or black Bermudian women. Still the probability that black Bermudian men are employed in high-paying rather than low-paying industries is seven percentage points lower than the corresponding probability for white Bermudian men and race accounts for 29 percent of the racial gap in predicted earnings all by itself."
● "Employers may be reluctant to hire many black Bermudian males or offer them lower wages than other workers, because they display the same soft skill deficits that reduce the employability of less-educated black males in the US. By soft skills we mean they are less punctual, exhibit poorer workplace attitudes, are less able to work as members of a team, and more likely to violate (written and unwritten) rules than their same age peers. These soft-skill deficits could also be related to the same behaviours that inhibited their performance in school. If soft skills are the problem, exposing young black Bermudian men to the expectations of the workplace earlier in their development must be part of the effort to reduce unemployment and earnings gaps between them and their same age peers."
● "Because there is no four-year college in Bermuda, boys need to go overseas to achieve a Bachelor's degree or higher. However, a lack of resources accompanied by a lack of knowledge about college requirements, scholarships, and the processes involved in applying for and attending a four-year college overseas presents obstacles to boys' clarity about what to do after they graduate from high school. A lack of knowledge about employment options and suspicions of a glass ceiling in the higher paying industries such as finance, may be limiting their professional aspirations."
●"Racial barriers in education and employment may have made it difficult for earlier cohorts of black men to secure employment in high paying industries and occupations. As a result, while in school younger cohorts of black men may have believed that the returns to education for black men are low. However, changes in the industrial and occupational distribution of employment may have raised these returns. If so, young black men who did not take full advantage of the educational opportunities available to them may now be unprepared to take advantage of employment opportunities available to more highly educated workers."
● "However, tackling discrimination and occupational segregation may not be enough, because unemployment and earnings gaps between young white and black Bermudian men may reflect other productivity-related characteristics associated with race, but not measured by the Census. These characteristics may be related to the sense of disappointment in young black Bermudian men we hear from educators, statisticians, policymakers and youth-service workers in Bermuda.
"Too many young black Bermudian men appear to be taking less than full advantage of the opportunities available to them. They do not apply themselves as diligently as young black Bermudian women in secondary school. Fewer black Bermudian men go college, while many young black Bermudian women do, often while working. Some observers also believe that lower academic achievement among black Bermudian men produces wider gaps in the occupational status and world views of young black Bermudian men and women. These gaps may contribute to the decline in marriage rates among young black Bermudians and the consequent increase in black Bermudian female-headed families."
The 222-page report is available today on our website: click here.
