STALLED CONVERGENCE: RACE, GENDER, AND SECTOR IN AMERICAN MANAGERIAL ACCESS AND EARNINGS, 1960-2021

Abstract

This study contributes to sociological research on inequality in managerial employment by analyzing patterns of access and compensation across race, gender, and sector using harmonized IPUMS Census and American Community Survey microdata from 1960 to 2021. The analyses model relative odds of attaining managerial positions and decompose wage disparities among managers by decade using consistent occupational definitions, examining disparities for Black women, Black men, and White women relative to White men, with separate analyses by public and private sector.Three patterns emerge. First, wage convergence stalled or reversed after 2000 for African Americans, while White women continued progress. Black women's wages stagnated at 0.48 log points below White men (62 cents per dollar) in private sector from 2000-2021, while their public sector gap remained flat at 0.29-0.31 log points. Black men experienced wage regression: private sector gaps increased from 0.33 to 0.44 log points, and public sector gaps rose from 0.19 to 0.22 log points. White women continued modest gains, with gaps narrowing from 0.36 to 0.26 log points (private) and 0.26 to 0.21 log points (public). Second, substantial sectoral differences persisted. In 2021, Black women's access gap was 1.5 percentage points in public versus 6.8 points in private; Black men's was 2.1 versus 8.5 points; and White women's was 0.9 versus 1.1 points. Wage gaps were consistently smaller in public sector: Black women earned 0.29 log points less than White men versus 0.48 in private, Black men's gaps were 0.22 versus 0.44 log points, and White women's were 0.21 versus 0.26 log points. Third, gap composition shifted fundamentally. Educational differences between groups explained access gaps from 63% to 24% for Black men and 45% to 15% for Black women in private sector. Industry segregation and marital status differences emerged as primary explanatory factors, together explaining 40% of Black women's access gap by 2021. Coefficients effects increased substantially, reaching 94% for White women, 63% for Black women, and 55% for Black men in private management.