Salary Discrepencies for Blacks

It is very disturbing what I hear consistently from my alumni and many African American students around the country about salary disparities that they are facing in the job market. I personally have seen first hand organizations that have offered Black candidates much lower salaries than White with similar backgrounds for the same positions.

What's going on? In a post civil rights era, some people still seem to believe it is ok to offer African American professionals only 80% of what they are offering non-African Americans according to the most recent census information.

Some of the Hurdles:

• Lower entry level salaries for African Americans- Solution, greater time needs to be invested in salary research and developing negotiation skills.


• Lower scores/ Less Recognition in Performance Evaluations Process- Solution, Improved awareness and active management of the performance evaluation process. Report inconsistencies or irregularities to proper organizational officials.


• Lack of Salary Awareness- Solution- Research industry reports and websites on salaries, keep abreast of current salary information reported by organizations for positions in your area of interest and current position. Talk with HR representatives in your organization for current salary ranges in your position and positions you are targeting in the future.

• Visibility and Opportunity- Solution- Seek mentoring and coaching from successful professionals including non-African Americans. Developing a career advancement strategy to assist in identifying formal and informal training and opportunities to achieve your goals.


• Lack of Recognition of Your Own Value-Too many Black professionals are "just happy to be there,"and feel they need to accept lower salaries to secure the opportunity. Solution- Understand you are there because you add value to the organization. Again research of industry and organizational salary trends, discuss with supervisor salary ranges of your peers and research similarly positions across your organization. Ask your supervisor for feedback on strategies to position yourself for higher salary ranges.


• Vote with your feet-If they aren't willing to pay you the reported market value of your talent within your industry, step on... an organization that doesn't reward talent and high performing contributors is probably riddled with other problems that will slow down or even derail your career.

For recent salary information check out the NACE Salary Survey information @

http://www.jobweb.com/SalaryInfo/default.htm

---KRW