A report posted in April 2006 by the EEOC Office of Research, Information and Planning examined the insurance/finance industries' progress in diversifying the workforce.

Researchers studied five broad subsectors: The Monetary Authorities-Central Bank (Central Banking); Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (Banking/Credit); Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (Securities); Insurance Carriers and Related Activities (Insurance); and Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (Funds).

The report paid particular attention to the employment of women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians and American Indians/Alaskan Natives, and the status of these groups in management positions. Highlights from that study include:

The percentage of women officials and managers is highest in the Banking/Credit subsector (48.6 percent) and lowest percentage in the Securities subsector (33.8 percent). The percentage of women officials and managers in each of the subsectors falls below the percentage of women employed as professionals, which might be considered a source for management jobs.

Similar disparities between the percentage of African-American officials and managers and the percentage of African-American professionals are also observed. The percentage of African-American officials and managers is highest in the Banking/Credit subsector (7.0 percent) and lowest in the Securities subsector (4.4 percent).

The percentage of Hispanic officials and managers is highest in the Central Banking subsector (5.1 percent) and lowest in the Securities subsector (2.9 percent). In all subsectors, the percentage of Hispanic officials and managers is less that the percentage of Hispanic professionals.

The highest percentage of Asian officials and managers is in the Securities subsector (6.4 percent) and the lowest percentage of Asian officials and managers is in Central Banking and Insurance (2.8 percent). Like the other groups examined, the percentage of Asian officials and managers falls below the percentage of Asian professionals in each subsector.

Employment as officials and managers is examined in more detail for each of these groups by determining their chance of being officials and managers in contrast to professionals and sales workers. This shows that each subsector has a large portion of establishments where such chances are unfavorable to women, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians when compared to white males. Entry into management may be a particular concern for Asians.

While the relative chance of being an official or manager is better in the Securities subsector for each of the groups analyzed, the low proportion of women and African-American professionals in this subsector may be partly responsible for these results.

Special Reports /

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