Linking Job Avenues to Race and Gender Disparities in Work Organizations

• In Event: 161 - Section on Organizations, Occupation and Work Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. Inequality in the Workplace II

Abstract

Since the 1970s jobs have become increasingly precarious; instead of being promoted from within, more employees switch firms to advance their career. Previous research shows that employer switches are associated with greater race and gender earnings inequality in the U.S., especially since the mid-1990s. Using longitudinal employment records of a large employer (1997-2012), I examine whether race and gender disparities are due to differences in starting salaries at the point of job entry or whether they emerge after employees entered their job.
I find that job entry mode affects race and gender gaps only among professional employees. While disparities are smaller among externally hired professionals at the point of entry, this advantage gets lost and disparities grow quickly among newly hired employees. After about four years race and gender gaps among externally hired employees have adjusted to gaps among promoted employees.
To explain these patterns this paper examines the effect of supervisory characteristics, departmental composition, fast-tracking and proximity to pay ceilings. Unfortunately, none of the factors could explain why inequality increases over time among newly hired employees. Thus, future research should further investigate how the externalization of job mobility affects inequality in organizations.

Author

• Anne Kathrin Kronberg, Emory University