Black women with bachelor's degrees earn more than White counterparts: study

Jet, April 11, 2005

Black women with bachelor's degrees earn more than similarly educated White women, a current study finds.

According to new data released by the Census Bureau, Black women with bachelor's degrees typically earned $41,100 in 2003, compared with $37,800 for a college-educated White woman. Asian women earned $43,700 and Hispanic women took home $37,600 a year.

The bureau did not give an explanation for the differences. Economists and sociologists suggest several possible factors: the tendency of minority women, especially Blacks, to more often hold more than one job or work more than 40 hours a week, and the tendency of Black professional women who take time off to have a child to return to the work force sooner than others.

Employers in some fields may give financial incentives to young Black women, who graduate from college at higher rates than young Black men, said Roderick Harrison, a researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank in Washington that studies minority issues.

"Given the relative scarcity, if you are a woman in the sciences-if you are a Black woman--you would be a rare commodity," Harrison said.

Because study in the area is limited, it is hard to pinpoint reasons, said Barbara Gault, research director at the Washington-based Institute for Women's Policy Research.

"It could be the fields that educated Black women are choosing," she said. "It also could be related to the important role that Black women play in the total family income in African-American families."

However, a White male with a college diploma earns far more than any similarly educated man or woman-in excess of $66,000 a year, the Census Bureau said. Among men with bachelor's degrees, Blacks earned $45,000 a year, Asians earned $52,000 and Hispanics $49,000.

Workplace discrimination and the continuing difficulties of minorities to get into higher-paying management positions could help explain the disparities among men, experts say.

The figures come from the Census Bureau's annual look at educational achievement in America, culled from a survey in March 2004.