Cedric Herring

This chapter utilizes data from the National Survey of Black Americans to examine African Americans’ reactions to being underemployed. The gross effects of underemployment on the political participation of African Americans are small, and at times, they appear to be in the opposite direction from what relative deprivation theory anticipates. Respondents were asked whether they belonged to any organizations or took part in any activities that represent the interests and viewpoints of African-American people. If economic opportunities continue to contract and African-American workers become increasingly marginalized, understanding such issues will become even more crucial. The chapter examines the effects of one kind of economic adversity—underemployment—on the political behavior of African Americans. Sub-unemployment, unemployment, low hours, low in come, intermittent employment, and mismatch underemployment are contrasted to adequate employment for each of the types of political expression. Net of the correlates of political behavior, the underemployed remain less likely than adequately employed workers to participate in orthodox political activities.

In this reply to Stojmenovska, Bol, and Leopold’s comment on my 2009 ASR article, “Does Diversity Pay?” I offer an updated analysis of the relationship between racial and gender diversity in business organizations and such business outcomes as sales revenue, number of customers, market share, and relative profits. Despite the claims in their comment, an updated analysis supports the business case for diversity perspective. Racial and gender diversity are related to business outcomes in the direction predicted. I conclude that diversity is still a good thing, not just because it is related to business outcomes, but also because it reinforces the belief that everyone deserves an equal opportunity.

Using data from the 2011 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) rankings of U.S. research universities, this paper examines whether gender diversity is related to the rankings of academic programs in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines at research universities. The NAS data set consists of several indicators relating to research productivity, student support and outcomes, and program diversity from nearly 4,000 STEM doctoral programs at U.S. research universities. The results show that, for the net of factors such as publication rates, grants, scholarly awards, program size, region, and whether the institution is public or private, gender diversity among faculty at research universities is positively associated with departmental rankings in STEM disciplines. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for diversity in higher education.

Purpose: Precarity is a condition that exists when there is little predictability or security with respect to people’s material well-being or psychological welfare. It is a condition that often increases during times of economic uncertainty. But there can be a paradox associated with precarity: the sense of doom can become worse even as objective conditions improve. Methodology/approach: Using data from the 2006–2012 American National Election Surveys and other sources, this chapter examines precarity and economic insecurity in the United States before and during the Obama era. It provides an overview of patterns that undergird the sense of insecurity by presenting trends in economic well-being before, during, and after the Great Recession. Findings: The results show that supporters of President Obama were more optimistic about the future. Those who voted for Bush, despite precarity is a racialized, politicized, and partisan condition. It is not simply based on objective conditions. Precarity has far-reaching social effects. Originality/value: Current perceptions of insecurity are complex and cannot be traced to a single source such as precarity at work. The problem of economic insecurity provides some formidable challenges to policymakers concerned with reducing the waste of human capabilities. Ultimately, the only true solution for precarity is sustained, vigorous economic growth with fairness for all, but how to get there and to get people to believe that such growth is real and sustainable remain a challenge.

This research seeks to understand the degree to which credit scores of new business startups are influenced by racial or gender discrimination. It examines the degree to which access to business credit lines is influenced by racial and gender-related factors that go beyond would-be borrowers’ credit scores. Using credit data from new startups, the analysis finds that, when controlling for firm and human capital characteristics, Black-owned startups receive lower than expected business credit scores. Whites are more favorably treated in credit score determination than are African Americans with the same firm characteristics and owner characteristics. Moreover, Whites are more favorably treated when it comes to access to credit lines than are African Americans, Latinos, and Asians with the same firm characteristics, owner characteristics, and credit scores. Men are more favorably treated when it comes to access to credit lines than are women. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition suggests that credit lines for Black-owned businesses would more than double, Latino-owned businesses’ lines of credit would nearly triple, Asian-owned businesses’ lines of credit would more than triple, and those where the primary owners are women would be more than twice as large if their business lines of credit were determined in the same way as those for businesses owned primarily by Whites and by men. The implications of these results are discussed.

“Critical diversity” is the equal inclusion of people from varied backgrounds on a parity basis throughout all ranks and divisions of an organization. The critical diversity perspective argues that as organizations become more diverse, they benefit relative to their competitors. This is in contrast to other accounts that view diversity as either inconsequential to success or actually detrimental. Using data from the 2011 National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Rankings of U.S. Research Universities, this paper examines whether racial and gender diversity “pay” in terms of the rankings of academic programs at research universities. The NAS data set consists of several indicators relating to research productivity, student support and outcomes, and program diversity from over 5000 doctoral programs at US research universities. The results show that net of factors such as publication rates, grants, scholarly awards, program size, region, and whether the institution is public or private, racial and gender diversity among faculty and students at research universities are positively associated with departmental rankings. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for diversity in higher education.