Written by Tracey de Morsella on 05-01-2007
According to a new study released by Nationwide Financial (NYSE: NFS), 73 percent of African-American males say they were driven into retirement by factors beyond their control, compared to 33 percent of the general population. This number represents retirees who say they had to retire when they did due to illness, disability, company closing, or for another reason beyond their control. From the same study, the percentage for African-American females was 28 percent, compared to 37 percent for females of the general population. The Nationwide Retirement Decisions Study, conducted with Mathew Greenwald & Associates, covered people with household incomes of at least $40,000 a year. The survey also found that most African-Americans expect to retire between the ages of 55 and 65, compared to 57 and 66 for the general population.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 03-05-2007
Last week, The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education analyzed the most recent data on Black faculty from the U.S. Department of Education. Blacks made up 5.3 percent of all full-time faculty in American higher education.
The increase in their ranks has only moved up one percentage point in two decades. those blacks who do hold positions are concentrated in lower-level faculty posts. The article concludes by looking at flaws in the system that are likely causing the limited growth of Black faculty. Click here to read the article.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-28-2007
David Cohen, President of DCI Consulting Group, Inc., has announced the formation of a new national nonprofit employer association dedicated to promoting proactive affirmative action and equal employment regulatory compliance to create diverse organizations free from workplace bias. Patricia A. Schaeffer, DCI’s Vice President-Regulatory Affairs, will head the association known as “The Center for Corporate Equality.”
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-26-2007
Top sourcing guru, Shally Steckerl, posted an article entitled “Using the Internet to Expand the Diversity of Your Candidate Pool,”on ERE yesterday. It is an excellent introduction that stresses that recruiters go where the diversity candidates go (and that is not always the same place as many of their colleagues go.)
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-23-2007
A new study by a Vanderbilt University professor of law and economics found legal immigrants in the United States with a lighter skin tone made more money than those with darker skin.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-21-2007
Black and Hispanic employees are more skeptical than their white colleagues that performance on the job will lead to career advancement, according to a national telephone survey by Novations Group, a global consulting organization based in Boston.
Written by Grant Ingle on 02-19-2007
It has become fashionable to explore the “best practices” among diversity initiatives in hopes that what works at one college can be transferred to others. But based on my experience over four decades with diversity programs, including participation in three national studies of best practices, it’s apparent to me that those practices rarely are evaluated adequately or include contextual information needed to determine whether they would be effective elsewhere. For example, a faculty-recruitment program declared as a “best practice” may simply reflect a campus that already has a welcoming climate and a critical mass of faculty members of color.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-16-2007
Target Corporation, the Minneapolis-based retail sales giant, has agreed to pay $775,000 to a group of black workers as part of a litigation settlement of a race discrimination and retaliation case brought by U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced today. The settlement also includes employer training and other remedial relief.
Written by Peter Bye on 02-15-2007
Employee network and affinity groups each have unique characteristics—no two are alike. There are, however, common planning and management techniques. Do you need to develop a business case or implementation plan for network or affinity groups? If so, consider the elements described below to ensure your efforts, and that of the groups, best fit your organization’s needs.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-15-2007
Three out of four U.S. employers plan to maintain or increase spending on diversity and inclusion training in 2007, according to a survey of more than 2,046 senior HR executives by Novations Group, a global consulting organization based in Boston. While a majority will keep expenditures at 2006 same levels, 22% will hike spending and staff time devoted to inclusion training.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-15-2007
AK Steel Corporation will pay $600,000 to settle a racial harassment lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today. The EEOC had charged that the Fortune 500 company violated federal law at its Butler, Pa., facility by creating and condoning a racially hostile work environment for a group of African American employees, which included widespread racist and threatening displays for years.According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the hostile work environment has included, since at least 2000, racially graphic graffiti, the displaying of nooses and swastikas in work areas open to African American employees, racial slurs and epithets, the open display of Ku Klux Klan videos in employee lounge areas and the circulation of Populist Party literature where the party candidate, David Duke, is a known KKK leader. Some of the graffiti contained direct or implied threats to African Americans, such as a message to “kill” them and a picture of bullets coming out of a gun accompanied by a threatening insult toward blacks. There was also a good deal of Nazi graffiti, including “I ♥ Adolf.”
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-14-2007
Dr. Fathi El-Nadi has attempted to track the financial or performance results of diversity programs by examining the programs of six global firms with diversity programs. They include: Ryder System, Inc., Goldman Sachs Group, Price Waterhouse Coopers, New York Life Insurance, and Cendant Corporation.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-14-2007
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) last year received a total of 75,768 discrimination charges against private sector employers, the first increase in charge filings since 2002, the federal agency reported today as part of its Fiscal Year 2006 data.The year-end statistics, available online at http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/enforcement.html, show that charges based on race (27,238), sex (23,247), and retaliation (22,555) were the most frequent allegations, as in past years. Other frequently cited charge bases were disability (15,625), age (13,569), national origin (8,327), and religion (2,541). All charge categories edged up from FY 2005, with the exception of age and equal pay. Individuals may allege multiple types of discrimination in a single charge filing.
Written by Anita Zanchettin on 02-14-2007
The bottom-line business benefits of diversity and inclusion are increasingly well-established in global companies, including:
- Attraction and retention of top talent through employer-of-choice reputation around the world;
Written by Greg Roper on 02-12-2007
You are the staffing manager and you have spent countless hours and energy trying to fill key positions in your organization. Your charge has been to actively seek out minorities and women for different positions in the hopes of increasing the diversity within the organization. You have accomplished your tasks and everything seems okay. Your candidate gets on board, things seem to be going well and all of the sudden you receive a message that your candidate has resigned from the organization. You wonder why?
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-12-2007
Last week, we published The Diversity Recruitment Marketing Best Practices Checklist. The free 40-page, downloadable, PDF features 164 strategies on the following topics: showcasing inclusion on company web sites; creating results-oriented job postings; creating a diversity positive employment brand; getting a good ROI with diversity job boards; diversity recruitment marketing planning; selecting the right recruitment advertising agency; and definition of an Internet Applicant compliance.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-07-2007
Nominations are now open to receive candidates for the 2007 American Association for Affirmative Action awards. The awards will be presented at the 2007 American Association for Affirmative Action Conference in Austin, TX, April 25-28th.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 02-03-2007
In a recent edition of Fortune Magazine, covered the growing corporate GLBT pro-equality movement in an article entitled, “Queer Inc. How Corporate America fell in love with gays and lesbians. It’s a movement.”
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 01-29-2007
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nation’s largest gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization, today released its annual list of the “Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality.” A total of 142 companies that achieve this honor will use the 2007 “Best Places to Work for GLBT Equality” seal to distinguish their company as a fair-minded employer.
Written by Tracey de Morsella on 01-26-2007
More than three-quarters (76 percent) of U.S. workers report to a Caucasian boss and just one-third (34 percent) state their boss is a woman, according to a new Hudson survey. At the same time, less than half (43 percent) of employees indicate that there is racial, ethnic and gender diversity on their company’s executive team.Despite these gaps in diversity, among all workers, only half (47 percent) are employed by an organization with a formal diversity initiative, leaving 53 percent of the work force at companies without them or unsure if their employer has one. Furthermore, U.S. workers are still torn on the ability of these programs to create salary and job advancement opportunities for women and minorities, as approximately one-third (31 percent) believe they do, one-third (35 percent) think they do not, and one-third (33 percent) are not sure of their impact.
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