Representation of Ethnicity, Gender, and Age in Managerial and Employee Positions Across Workplaces

• In Event: 21061 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 6: DEI in the Workplace and Higher Education

Abstract

This article examines labor market diversity and segregation from 1996 to 2022 using detailed register data that link the full labor market population to specific workplace locations, rather than broader organizations like companies, sectors, or occupations. Analyzing segregation across gender, age, and ethnicity, we find that ethnic segregation has increased the most and is the primary focus of this extended abstract. While 16% of employees in large workplaces were of immigrant origin, the average native-born employee had 13% immigrant coworkers, whereas the average immigrant employee had 31% (2022). Compared to a random distribution, the findings further indicate a growing structural divide in workplace diversity.
Ethnic sorting is influenced by age and to a lesser extent by gender: younger immigrants are more likely than older ones to work in immigrant-concentrated workplaces, with men more so than women. However, among native-born employees, exposure to immigrant coworkers is not moderated by age or gender.
In management positions, representation of women and immigrants has increased, yet both groups remain underrepresented relative to their labor market share. Non-Western immigrants face the greatest barriers to entering management, surpassing disadvantages associated with gender or age. Although the gap in management representation is narrowing, this shift is primarily concentrated within specific workplaces and sectors. Female managers are more likely to manage other women, while managers of immigrant origin are more likely to manage immigrant employees. As a result, native-born men continue to dominate management positions across workplaces and sectors, reinforcing their privileged status in the labor market.

Author

• Jeppe Fjeldgaard Qvist, Aalborg University