1989 - Social-Psychological Processes that Perpetuate Racial Segregation: The Relationship Between School and Employment Desegregation

Attribution: Braddock II, Jomills Henry, & McPartland, James M.
Researchers: James M. McPartlandJomills Henry Braddock II
University Affiliation: University of Miami
Email: braddock@miami.edu
Research Question:
Study processes that perpetuate segregation.
Published: 1
Journal Name or Institutional Affiliation: Journal of Black Studies
Journal Entry: Vol. 19, No. 3, pp. 267-289
Year: 1989
Findings:
  • This research examines the processes that perpetuate segregation. The effect of school segregation on occupational segregation net of sex, age, occupational status, and employment sector was analyzed.
  • In the North and in the South, high school racial composition was the most powerful and the only significant predictor of coworker racial composition.
  • The effect was stronger in the North than in the South. Though significant, high school racial composition explains only a small proportion of the variance in coworker racial composition.
  • The relationship is estimated with a control for the racial composition of the community. In the North, high school racial composition is still the largest and only significant predictor of occupational segregation.
  • In the South, community racial make up is the major determinant—the effect on coworker racial composition is nearly four times the effect of high school racial composition on coworker racial composition. However, in the South community and school segregation are strongly associated—joint effects are difficult to disentangle.
  • The elaborated model explains only a small proportion of variance.
  • The study also examines the effects of high school racial composition on black workers’ perceptions of their supervisors’ competence and their coworkers’ friendliness.
  • The findings indicate that desegregated educational backgrounds create different attitudes among blacks that produce or sustain desegregation in adult life.
Keywords: DesegregationLife CourseLong Term OutcomesOccupational OutcomesResidential SegregationSegregationRegions: NationalMethodologies: QuantitativeResearch Designs: Secondary Survey DataAnalysis Methods: Regression Sampling Frame:5 ethnic and class homogenous groups ages 14-21
Sampling Types: RandomAnalysis Units: IndividualData Types: Quantitative-Longitudinal
Data Description:
  • The data are from the National Longitudinal Surveys Youth Cohort (NLS-Y), 1979.
  • The sample included men and women ages 14-21 and data includes factors affecting the school to work transition. Does not include individuals on active military duty.
  • Sample selected through multistage, stratified area probability sampling of dwelling units and group quarter units.
  • Total of 12,686 people were surveyed in 1979 and interviewed in a 1981 follow-up.
  • The sample consists of 2000 Hispanics, 3000 blacks, 1600 non-Hispanic and non-black economically disadvantaged persons, and 1300 military personnel.
  • This study analyzes only the Black respondents (472 women and 602 men). Local demographic data is also used in this study (region and community racial composition).
  • IV: Age, gender, employment sector, occupational level, high school racial composition, and community racial composition.
  • DV: Race of coworkers, coworker friendliness, and supervisor competence.
Theoretical Framework:
Relevance:
Archives: K-12 Integration, Desegregation, and Segregation Abstracts