Current Issues

The Population of Women of Color

In the US, the percentage of the female population is 49.76 percent and women of color comprised 20.3% of the United States population.

In 2021, One in Five People in The United States is a Woman of Color.

In 2060, One in Four People in The United States will be a woman of color.

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Source: www.catalyst.org

Leadership Positions

From Entry Level Positions to the C-Suite, the Share of Women of Color in Leadership Remains Small.

At the start of 2022, women of color held 19% of entry-level positions. Few advanced to leadership: Managers (14%), Director/Senior Managers (10%), VP (8%), SVP (6%) and C –suite positions (5%).

This can be compared to White women, who hold 29% of entry-level positions, with more advancing to leadership: Manager (27%), Sr. Manager/Director (26%), VP (24%), SVP (23%) and C-suite positions (21%).

Source: www.medium.com

The Wage Gap

When looking at women’s wages across broad racial and ethnic categories among full-time below, year-round workers, Hispanic women experience the largest pay gap, having earned just 57 cents for every $1 earned by white, non-Hispanic men in 2020.

Source: www.americanprogress.org

This variation in the wage gap is due in part to occupational segregation—with various Asian sub-populations concentrated in low-wage occupations and others in high-wage occupations—which is itself driven by differences in culture, immigration patterns, and generational wealth, as well as intersecting gender, racial, and ethnic biases.

‘Broken Rung’

The ‘broken rung’ is the greatest obstacle women face on the path to senior leadership

For the ninth consecutive year, women face their biggest hurdle at the ﬁrst critical step up to manager. This year, for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, 87 women were promoted (Exhibit 2). And this gap is trending the wrong way for women of color: this year, 73 women of color were promoted to manager for every 100 men, down from 82 women of color last year. As a result of this “broken rung,” women fall behind and can’t catch up.

2022

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2023

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Source: www.mckinsey.com

Progress for early-career Black women remains the furthest behind. After rising in 2020 and 2021 to a high of 96 Black women promoted for every 100 men—likely because of heightened focus across corporate America—Black women’s promotion rates have fallen to 2018 levels, with only 54 Black women promoted for every 100 men this year.

While companies are modestly increasing women’s representation at the top, doing so without addressing the broken rung oﬀers only a temporary stopgap. Because of the gender disparity in early promotions, men end up holding 60 percent of manager-level positions in a typical company, while women occupy 40 percent. Since men signiﬁcantly outnumber women, there are fewer women to promote to senior managers, and the number of women decreases at every subsequent level.

Empower Girls of Color