Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The reverse wage gap among educated White and Black women

  • Published:
The Journal of Economic Inequality Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Using the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses and the 2004–2005 American Community Surveys, we estimate the Black–White wage gap among females with at least some college education. We find that Black female nurses earn 9% more at the mean and median than White female nurses, controlling for selection into nursing employment. Among K-12 teachers, Black females earn 7% more than White females at the median. There is no Black–White wage gap among all women with a bachelor’s degree. Differences in opportunities for education and marriage between White and Black women may explain why highly educated Black females earn on par with highly educated White females.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Alliance for Excellent Education: African American students and U.S. high schools. http://www.all4ed.org/files/archive/publications/AfAm_FactSheet.pdf (2008)

  2. Anderson, D., Shapiro, D.: Racial differences in access to high-paying jobs and the wage gap between Black and White women. Ind. Labor Relat. Rev. 49(2), 273–286 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Auerbach, D.I., Buerhaus, P.I., Staiger, D.O.: Better late than never: workforce supply implications of later entry into nursing. Health Aff. 26, 178–185 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Beblo, M., Beninger, D., Heinze, A., Laisney, F.: Measuring selectivity-corrected gender wage gaps in the EU. ZEW Discussion Papers No. 03-74 (2003)

  5. Becker, G.S., Chiswick, B.R.: The economics of education and the distribution of earnings. Am. Econ. Rev. 56, 358–369 (1966)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Black, D., Haviland, A., Sanders, S., Taylor, L.: Why do minority men earn less? A study of wage differentials among the highly educated. Rev. Econ. Stat. 88(1), 300–313 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Black, D., Haviland, A., Sanders, S., Taylor, L.: Gender wage disparities among the highly educated. J. Hum. Resour. 43(1), 630–659 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Black, S., Sufi, A.: Who goes to college? Differential enrollment by race and family background. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 9310 (2002)

  9. Blinder, A.S.: Wage discrimination: reduced form and structural estimates. J. Hum. Resour. 8(4), 436–455 (1973)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Bollinger, C.R.: Measurement error in human capital and the Black–White wage gap. Rev. Econ. Stat. 85, 578–585 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Caldwell Jr., R.: The Effects of University Affirmative Action Policies on Human Capital Development of Minority Children: Do Expectations Matter? Unpublished manuscript, Department of Economics, University of Kansas, Lawrence (2009)

  12. Cameron, S.V., Heckman, J.J.: The dynamics of educational attainment for Black, Hispanic, and White males. J. Polit. Econ. 109, 455–499 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Carneiro, P., Heckman, J.J.: Human capital policy. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No.9495 (2003)

  14. Chiswick, B.R.: Differences in education and earnings across racial and ethnic groups: tastes, discrimination and investment in child quality. Q. J. Econ. 103, 571–597 (1988)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Gould, E.D., Daniele Paserman, M.: Waiting for Mr. Right: rising inequality and declining marriage rates. J. Urban Econ. 53, 257–281 (2003)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Gullickson, A.: Education and Black–White interracial marriage. Demography 43, 673–689 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Heckman, J.J.: Sample selection bias as a specification error. Econometrica 47, 153–161 (1979)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Houseworth, C.A.: Human Capital and Interracial Marriage in the United States. Unpublished Manuscript (2008)

  19. Jacobsen, J., Olsen, C., King Rice, J., Sweetland, S., Ralph, J.: Educational attainment and Black–White inequality. Statistical Analysis Report, National Center for Education Statistics (2001)

  20. Jacobson, J., Olsen, C., Rice, J.K., Sweetland, S., Ralph, J.: Educational achievement and Black–White inequality. National Center for Education Statistics Statistical Analysis Report NCES 2001-061 (2001)

  21. Jones, C.B., Gates, M.: Gender-based wage differentials in a predominantly female profession: observations from nursing. Econ. Educ. Rev. 23(6), 615–631 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Lichter, D., LeClere, F., McLaughlin, D.: Local marriage markets and the marital behavior of Black and White women. Am. J. Sociol. 96(4), 843–867 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Linsenmeier, D.M., Rosen, H.S., Elena Rouse, C.: Financial aid packages and college enrollment decisions: an econometric case study. Working Paper No 9228, National Bureau of Economic Research (2002)

  24. Neal, D.A.: The measured Black–White wage gap among women is too small. J. Polit. Econ. 112, 1–28 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Neal, D.A., Johnson, W.R.: The role of premarket factors in Black–White wage differences. J. Polit. Econ. 104, 869–895 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Oaxaca, R.: Male–female wage differentials in urban labor markets. International Economic Review 14, 693–709 (1973)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. O’Neill, J., O’Neill, D.: What do Wage Differentials tell us about Labor Market Discrimination? NBER Working Paper 11240 (2005)

  28. Orfield, G., Lee, C.: Why segregation matters: poverty and educational inequality. Harvard Civil Rights Project (2005)

  29. Qian, Z.: Breaking the racial barriers: variations in interracial marriage between 1980 and 1990. Demography 34, 263–276 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Seitz, S.: Accounting for racial differences in marriage and employment. J. Labor Econ. 27(3), 385–437; 4(May): 263–276 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education: The Effect of Higher Education on Interracial Marriage. J. Blacks Higher Educ. 16, 55–56 (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Urzua, S.: Racial labor market gaps the role of abilities and schooling choices. J. Hum. Resour. 43(4), 919–971 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Veneri, C.M.: Can occupational labor shortages be identified using available data? Mon. Labor Rev. (March) 122(3), 15–21 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. New York Census Research Data Center, 135 East 22nd Street, Box D-901, New York, NY, 10010, USA

    Jonathan D. Fisher

  2. Litigation Analytics, Inc., 370 Lexington Avenue, Suite 1802, New York, NY, 10017, USA

    Christina A. Houseworth

Authors
  1. Jonathan D. Fisher
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christina A. Houseworth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan D. Fisher.

Additional information

This research was conducted while Jonathan Fisher was working with Litigation Analytics, Inc.

Electronic Supplementary Material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

(DOC 123 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Fisher, J.D., Houseworth, C.A. The reverse wage gap among educated White and Black women. J Econ Inequal 10, 449–470 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-011-9167-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-011-9167-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation