Race, Ethnicity, and Inequality in the U.S. Labor Market

What patterns of racial and ethnic stratification are emerging in the American labor market as representation of racial and ethnic minorities continues to increase in the new millennium? The articles in this special volume of The Annals demonstrate that in the 21st century the labor market is neither race-neutral nor color blind. Race and ethnicity continue as salient factors in determining life-chance opportunities in the American labor market. The volume focuses on the range of issues sociologists are addressing as they explore racial and ethnic inequality in the labor market. It also examines the methodological strategies used to analyze the subtle dynamics associated with inequality in the labor market. Taken together, these articles move us ahead in understanding the incidence, causes, and consequences of persisting inequities. The scholars included in this volume explore a range of critical topics: the role of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) law and data in existing research approaches used by firms to interpret and apply EEO law analysis of job satisfaction between and among groups use of audit studies to identify discrimination application of competition theory examination of racial and ethnic stratification in the workforce intergenerational occupational mobility the effects of segregation in both employment and residential spheres