Research Studies

Few U.S. Workers Report to Women, Minorities

No author cited
The Hudson Employment Index, January 2007

Available online (Executive Summary)

Seventy-six percent of U.S. workers report to a Caucasian boss and just 34 percent state their boss is a woman, according to a new Hudson survey. Meanwhile, 43 percent of employees indicate that there is racial, ethnic and gender diversity on their company’s executive team. The Hudson diversity in the workplace survey is based on a national poll of 4,825 U.S. workers conducted January 2-9, 2007 and was compiled by independent research firm Rasmussen Reports, LLC.

Despite these diversity gaps, among all workers, only 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. The survey indicated that U.S. workers are still torn on the ability of these programs to create salary and job advancement opportunities for women and minorities, as (31 percent believe they do, 35 percent think they do not, and 33 percent are not sure of their impact.

When asked about diversity at work, Hudson's survey found that most employees agree that having a diverse workforce is “very important” or “somewhat important.” The number who consider it to be “very important” spikes to 65 percent for African-Americans and 51 percent for Hispanics. 

Additional survey findings include:

• Nineteen percent of the work force knows someone who they believe was denied a job, promotion or pay increase because of that individual’s race or ethnicity.  That figure more than doubles to 46 percent for African-American workers who believe they know of someone who has been the victim of this sort of discrimination.
• Twenty-two percent of employees know someone who they think was denied a job, promotion or pay increase because of their gender.
• Government employees are among the most likely to have a female boss, as 43 percent report to a woman.
• Employees of larger companies, with more than 500 employees, are more likely to report that their organization has a formal diversity initiative and a diverse executive team than people who work for smaller organizations.