In the previous blog we discussed how expanding school choice in primary and secondary schools might lead to better educational outcomes for African American students, leading eventually to better career outcomes. The next step is to look at training after high school.
Of course our society needs more black CEOs and doctors, so ensuring that young black students who have the potential to pursue these careers must be a vital part of the nation’s strategy to reduce or eliminate the wealth gap. If African Americans made up 13% of the CEO positions of the 5,000 largest companies in the U.S., that would only provide 650 jobs. There are approximately 1 million medical doctors in the US with 5% (50,000 +/-) identifying as black. So if properly represented, that could result in another 125,000 high paying jobs. But there are over 31 million black adults in the U.S., so the wealth gap can’t be closed simply by adding 130,000 CEOs and physicians. What are some other solutions?
Let’s start with trades. African Americans are well-represented in low paying retail and food service positions. They make up just about 17% of dishwashers and 13% of the food preparation workforce in the US (Data USA) but only own approximately 8% of the restaurants (Retail and Hospitality Hub). Likewise, the BLS says 12.4% of retail jobs are filled with African American workers. But higher paying construction and trades fields have much lower African American representation:
- Construction Superintendent 3.4%
- Construction Project Managers 3.6%
- Civil Engineers 5%
- Electricians 7%
- Plumbers 9%
- Brick Masons 14%
These positions have much more earning and growth potential than hospitality and retail roles. Why don’t more African Americans pursue these career options? There is no doubt that historically, racist activities have been common on construction job sites and white workers have treated black workers poorly. But times seem to be changing in this regard. General Contractors are much more concerned about the diversity of the teams they present to prospects today than 20 years ago. As one CEO told me, “when a Fortune 1000 company wants to build a facility in our area, we can’t present them a team of 5 white guys and expect to win the project.” There is pressure from the GC’s downward to trade contractors to also present a more diverse workforce on projects, and often there are minority participation goals for each project – creating opportunities for black-owned trade contractors. GCs and trade contractors seem to have little patience with old-school superintendents and foremen who used to comfortably throw ethnic slurs around. Now seems to be a great time for young African Americans to be exposed to careers in trades and construction they wouldn’t have otherwise thought about.
This is where the school choice discussion circles back. Someone needs to figure out how to get more minority teenagers exposed to and interested in trade careers. Schools housed in minority neighborhoods that specialize in trade training and apprenticeships is one solution. I imagine trade associations would be happy to invest in such institutions. Many GCs are already doing a wonderful job taking this opportunity to the schools through formal programs. Let’s hope this continues.
Next, it’s the university experience. A couple of years ago I was involved in a minor automobile accident. The car rental agency sent a college-aged black female to pick me up from the body shop and take me back to the agency to acquire my rental car. The young lady was polite, pleasant and professional. I asked if she was in the company’s management trainee program (as I knew it was well regarded) and she told me that she was still a college student. I asked her what her major was and she said it was currently accounting, but she was changing it to social work the following semester. I didn’t comment other than to wish her luck, but remember thinking, “our society doesn’t need more black social workers, we need more black CPAs.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 42% of African Americans had either some college or had achieved an Associates degree or higher in 1992. By 2018 that number had risen to 63% – a 50% improvement. Yet the wage and wealth gaps closed very little over that period. A 2016 study by Georgetown University might shed some light. Their research showed that African Americans are over-represented in lower earning programs such as Social Work, Human Services, Communications and Arts while being under-represented in high earning programs such as Engineering, Computer Systems and other STEM majors along with Finance and higher earning medical-related degrees such as Pharmacy. This indicates that African Americans are taking advantage of government investment in education, but those investments aren’t doing much to address the wage gap due to the number of degree programs available to them that provide little to no economic advantage.
The studies that show that people with a college degree earn more than people with only a high school diploma or GED motivate higher government investment in education in general, but that data is somewhat misleading. I’ve seen many studies that show the relative economic value of a Ph.D., Masters, Bachelors, and Associates degrees vs a diploma, GED or less than high school, but the earnings gap between those with a Bachelor of Science vs a Bachelor of Arts degree is not well publicized. According to Emolument graduates with a BS will earn 17% more than graduates with a BA. Rather than simply throwing money at colleges and universities thinking a degree by itself will help close the gap, it would be logical for government and the universities to investigate ways to encourage more bright African American students to pursue BS degrees if we want to see the income gap close.