Kenexa Research Institute Discovers That Equal Opportunity Isn't Always Equal
African American Workers Report Less Opportunities for Advancement
| Source: Kenexa
WAYNE, PA--(Marketwire - February 25, 2009) - The Kenexa Research Institute (KRI) recently
released results of a survey of American workers that explored employees'
feelings of equal opportunity in the workplace. In its 2008 WorkTrends™
Report, KRI found that in the United States, there are distinctions across
certain job categories and management levels based on racial-ethnic origin.
According to the WorkTrends data, Asian Americans are more likely to occupy
knowledge-based jobs such as professional, technical and managerial
positions while African Americans are more likely to occupy clerical and
laborer roles.
When responding to questions specific to their company's culture, both
Caucasians and Asian Americans feel more favorably than African Americans
that their company enables people from diverse backgrounds to excel. For
advancement and development opportunities within their company, Caucasians
and Asian Americans also respond more favorably than African Americans do.
This research further indicates that the industry in which one works
matters. While satisfaction with opportunities for advancement varies
little for Caucasian Americans, for African Americans industry differences
are significant. African Americans are most satisfied in the healthcare
services industry (68%) but least satisfied in government (50%). Asian
Americans in the education industry reported the highest level of
satisfaction with career advancement opportunities (89%).
"These results also indicate that minority workers perceive the potential
for equal advancement opportunity differently depending on the region of
the United States in which they work. We found the widest range of opinion
on equal opportunity for advancement in the Midwest. In that region, Asian
Americans clearly report the strongest support and Caucasians are more
favorable by a margin of ten percentage points than are African Americans,"
said Jack Wiley, executive director, Kenexa Research Institute.
In terms of pay, more than half of all surveyed employees -- regardless of
ethnicity -- feel they are paid fairly, but there are differences by
ethnicity. Only 13% of Asian Americans feel they are paid unfairly,
compared to 32% of Native Americans and 28% of African Americans.
About WorkTrends™
The Kenexa WorkTrends database is a comprehensive normative database of
employee opinions on topics including leadership, employee engagement and
customer orientation. Comparisons are available for workers from Australia,
Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the
Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
About Kenexa
Kenexa (NASDAQ : KNXA ) is a global leader in building the world's greatest
workforces using a combination of software, employee research science and
business process optimization. Kenexa's global solutions include applicant
tracking, onboarding, recruitment process outsourcing, employment branding,
skills and behavioral assessments, structured interviews, performance
management, multi-rater feedback surveys, employee engagement surveys and
HR Analytics. Kenexa is headquartered in Wayne, Pa. (outside Philadelphia).
Additional information about Kenexa and its global products and services
can be accessed at www.kenexa.com.