The 33 Whitest Jobs in America

[summer]

www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/the-33-whitest-jobs-in-america/281180/


The workforce is even more stratified by race than you'd imagine. The differences in unemployment rates, participation rates, and average earnings between whites, blacks, and Hispanics aren't just stark. They're also sturdy, rarely yielding over the last 40 years.



The racial gaps are stark at the job level, too.



Whites account for about 81 percent of the workforce. But there are 33 occupations counted by the BLS (particularly those on farms, around heavy machines, in doctor's offices, and in C-suites) where whites officially account for nine in ten of all workers, or more. Here they are.




'm passing this along, not because I think it tells us something extraordinarily new, but as a side salad to this longer piece about jobs and race. Still I'd be fascinated to hear theories about the list, because I'm not even going to try. Asians account for 20 percent of physicians and surgeons, but just 1 percent of vets. Grounds cleaning/maintenance workers are 44 percent black, but groundskeepers are 90 percent white. I don't know why, maybe you do.



Again, for more on the racial stratification of the workforce, go here.



UPDATE: Looking over this list, you might have noticed that many of the occupations are skilled construction jobs, such as electricians and carpenters. That's not a coincidence. Trade unions have had a complicated, and often ugly, history with race that's helped shut blacks and Hispanics out of these highly coveted lines of work. In 2005, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote about the impact on Chicago's South Side:



"Chicago is a union town. But in Mitts’ ward–and among many poor blacks–some unions rank only a couple of notches above the Ku Klux Klan. Black leaders in Chicago have repeatedly charged that the building-trades unions, traditionally controlled by whites, are keeping a grip on jobs. While 37% of Chicago is black, only 10% of all new apprentices in the construction trades between 2000 and 2003 were black, according to the Chicago Tribune."

[foundmylazybum]

Wow...my best veterinarian ever was female and Asian. She also specialized in animal dentistry. Like I said, I thought she was amazing..I was so sad to leave her when we moved...but..I seriously did not recognize at the time that I was working with an elite unicorn. :/

[ringstrue]

Director of religious activities is a legit FT job?!

[sparrowsong]

Is there a particular reason veterinarian is number one?

[tacosforlife]

Jan 25, 2015 18:37:16 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

Is there a particular reason veterinarian is number one?

Because they have to deal with cats?

-------------------------> I'll be over there.

[iammalcolmx]

For all those trade jobs I would love to see what percentage are Union jobs.

[Onetwothree]

My husband works in a trade and I'm willing to bet the reason those jobs are so "white" is that most of the minorities never make the official payroll. Most of the companies he's worked for preferred to pay undocumented workers under the table because it was less money out of their pocket.

[zoidberg]

Jan 25, 2015 19:04:34 GMT -5 Onetwothree said:

My husband works in a trade and I'm willing to bet the reason those jobs are so "white" is that most of the minorities never make the official payroll. Most of the companies he's worked for preferred to pay undocumented workers under the table because it was less money out of their pocket.

Surprisingly, lots of american citizens are not white.

[josieposy]

Jan 25, 2015 18:37:16 GMT -5 sparrowsong said:

Is there a particular reason veterinarian is number one?

The only guess I have is because vet school is so notoriously difficult to get accepted in the first place.

[iammalcolmx]

Jan 25, 2015 19:44:18 GMT -5 zoidberg said:

Jan 25, 2015 19:04:34 GMT -5 Onetwothree said:

My husband works in a trade and I'm willing to bet the reason those jobs are so "white" is that most of the minorities never make the official payroll. Most of the companies he's worked for preferred to pay undocumented workers under the table because it was less money out of their pocket.

Surprisingly, lots of american citizens are not white.

I understand your reply but I believe she is saying it's easier to pay a disenfranchised person under the table without fear of them reporting you. I will say I have to agree and have seen the same done to American Citizens as well. However we brown folks are disproportionately poor and more likely to be taken advantage of.

[zoidberg]

Jan 25, 2015 19:58:29 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Jan 25, 2015 19:44:18 GMT -5 zoidberg said:

Surprisingly, lots of american citizens are not white.

I understand your reply but I believe she is saying it's easier to pay a disenfranchised person under the table without fear of them reporting you. I will say I have to agree and have seen the same done to American Citizens as well. However we brown folks are disproportionately poor and more likely to be taken advantage of.

Right. That is exactly my point. The reason people of color are not well represented is not because they're undocumented. It's because they're not white. She specified "undocumented" as though those are the only non-white people who might be trying to get into that trade.

[ttt]

Huh. Our vet is black. /anecdote

Eta: I had no idea it was that white of a profession. Maybe being in Atlanta skews my perception somewhat?

[iammalcolmx]

Jan 25, 2015 20:03:43 GMT -5 zoidberg said:

Jan 25, 2015 19:58:29 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

I understand your reply but I believe she is saying it's easier to pay a disenfranchised person under the table without fear of them reporting you. I will say I have to agree and have seen the same

done to American Citizens as well. However we brown folks are disproportionately poor and more likely to be taken advantage of.

Right. That is exactly my point. The reason people of color are not well represented is not because they're undocumented. It's because they're not white. She specified "undocumented" as though those are the only non-white people who might be trying to get into that trade.

well I hope she comes back and explains because I thought she was talking about the disenfranchised and used undocumented workers as an example. If she was suggesting what you think , I agree with you.

[stephm0188]

I saw this graph in another article, and it touched on the government having a higher percentage of black employees. Something like 1 in 5. And Chicago's postal service was 75-80% black.

www.anorak.co.uk/374606/money/the-33-whitest-and-blackest-jobs-in-america.html/

[MrsAxilla]

I wonder why medical transcriptionist is so high on the list. I don't know how to say this without coming off like a jackass, but isn't that a fairly easy field to get into? Work from home, good pay, lots of work. I believe you just need a certificate, and I've seen those commercials on TV (at for-profit colleges).

[origami]

Jan 25, 2015 18:48:49 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

For all those trade jobs I would love to see what percentage are Union jobs.

omg lol. I saw the list and immediately went to post and tag you about so many being union jobs.

[iammalcolmx]

Jan 25, 2015 20:59:02 GMT -5 origami said:

Jan 25, 2015 18:48:49 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

For all those trade jobs I would love to see what percentage are Union jobs.

omg lol. I saw the list and immediately went to post and tag you about so many being union jobs.

We all know Unions are racist as a mofo and people will discriminate when hiring.

ETA: Yet another example of our sisterhood.

[Onetwothree]

Jan 25, 2015 19:58:29 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Jan 25, 2015 19:44:18 GMT -5 zoidberg said:

Surprisingly, lots of american citizens are not white.

I understand your reply but I believe she is saying it's easier to pay a disenfranchised person under the table without fear of them reporting you. I will say I have to agree and have seen the same done to American Citizens as well. However we brown folks are disproportionately poor and more likely to be taken advantage of.

Sorry I didn't really phrase that well. This is closer to what I was trying to say. That disenfranchised people are more likely to be taken advantage of by their employers and, anecdotally, in my experience this is particularly true when it comes to skilled trades. So I feel this graph isn't really an accurate representation of the racial make-up of these professions.

I'm not sure I am explaining myself any better here. Maybe I will try again tomorrow.

[sugarglider]

Jan 25, 2015 21:02:36 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

Jan 25, 2015 20:59:02 GMT -5 origami said:

omg lol. I saw the list and immediately went to post and tag you about so many being union jobs.

We all know Unions are racist as a mofo and people will discriminate when hiring.

ETA: Yet another example of our sisterhood.

Remember the firefighter reverse discrimination case that went to SCOTUS? Ricci v. DeStefano? Their promotion system that had a disparate impact against minorities was created in adherence with a CBA. The part that actually caused the problem (the ratio of how much the interview was worth versus the test) was specifically laid out in the agreement. The city was pretty much screwed either way. My employment discrimination professor said the lesson from that case is to validate your tests, but man, they did everything short of that. Then when the process resulted in a racist result, they got hammered for throwing out the results.

[Cicero]

Jan 25, 2015 18:48:49 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

For all those trade jobs I would love to see what percentage are Union jobs.

Thank goodness I don't have to go sit in the corner because this was my first thought as well.

[zoidberg]

Jan 25, 2015 21:04:18 GMT -5 Onetwothree said:

Jan 25, 2015 19:58:29 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

I understand your reply but I believe she is saying it's easier to pay a disenfranchised person under the table without fear of them reporting you. I will say I have to agree and have seen the same done to American Citizens as well. However we brown folks are disproportionately poor and more likely to be taken advantage of.

Sorry I didn't really phrase that well. This is closer to what I was trying to say. That disenfranchised people are more likely to be taken advantage of by their employers and, anecdotally, in my experience this is particularly true when it comes to skilled trades. So I feel this graph isn't really an accurate representation of the racial make-up of these professions.

I'm not sure I am explaining myself any better here. Maybe I will try again tomorrow.

Yes, this does sound much better. I think we're all saying the same thing.

[iammalcolmx]

Jan 25, 2015 21:17:45 GMT -5 sugarglider said:

Jan 25, 2015 21:02:36 GMT -5 iammalcolmx said:

We all know Unions are racist as a mofo and people will discriminate when hiring.

ETA: Yet another example of our sisterhood.

Remember the firefighter reverse discrimination case that went to SCOTUS? Ricci v. DeStefano? Their promotion system that had a disparate impact against minorities was created in adherence with a CBA. The part that actually caused the problem (the ratio of how much the interview was worth versus the test) was specifically laid out in the agreement. The city was pretty much screwed either way. My employment discrimination professor said the lesson from that case is to validate your tests, but man, they did everything short of that. Then when the process resulted in a racist result, they got hammered for throwing out the results.

In many places results are thrown out all the time. The attorneys representing the City did a piss poor job. I listened to the transcript shaking my head. Oh yeah, that test was stupid and I hope to God Atlanta does a better job.

[shanbrite2]

Jan 25, 2015 20:47:17 GMT -5 @kirkette said:

SLPs surprise me

It doesn't surprise me too much (I am one). I don't know if I can guess at the reason why this would be, other than the general one that you need a master's to do the job, and I believe programs are highly competitive, but I still would think that most places would seek out diversity if it came knocking. The part that bothers me the most about this is the fact that we as SLPs are in charge of teaching children language and I have seen FAR too many SLPs not practicing truly culturally and linguistically competent care (despite a big push in the profession), which means that children with minority dialects or children learning English as a second language are getting a white-washed language taught to them. I even had one professor who insisted we teach kids to say "wh" as "hw" so "where" would sound like "hwere." Not only does no one talk like that any more, but it could make a kid sound VERY different from their peers if they spoke another dialect. Anyway, I think there are a LOT of implications from any profession being so whitewashed.

[LoveTrains]

I feel like my field is overwhelmingly white, but that might be a function of where I live? Not sure. I go to a yearly conference for people in my field in my region and the room is generally at least 90% white. It's all of New England and eastern canada.

[ESF]

Jan 25, 2015 23:43:50 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I feel like my field is overwhelmingly white, but that might be a function of where I live? Not sure. I go to a yearly conference for people in my field in my region and the room is generally at least 90% white. It's all of New England and eastern canada.

One of my BFFs is in your field, in a more diverse area, and is black. Based on what I've heard from her, I don't think it's just where you live.

[LoveTrains]

Jan 26, 2015 0:21:47 GMT -5 ESF said:

Jan 25, 2015 23:43:50 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

I feel like my field is overwhelmingly white, but that might be a function of where I live? Not sure. I go to a yearly conference for people in my field in my region and the room is generally at least 90% white. It's all of New England and eastern canada.

One of my BFFs is in your field, in a more diverse area, and is black. Based on what I've heard from her, I don't think it's just where you live.

When I had my first job in the field at a university outside of Boston I think we had 2 black women in the team of approximately 200 people.

[ESF]

Jan 26, 2015 0:24:57 GMT -5 LoveTrains said:

Jan 26, 2015 0:21:47 GMT -5 ESF said:

One of my BFFs is in your field, in a more diverse area, and is black. Based on what I've heard from her, I don't think it's just where you live.

When I had my first job in the field at a university outside of Boston I think we had 2 black women in the team of approximately 200 people.

She has had employers say to her "well, we were only going to send X to this conference, but really you should go for diversity."

[sugarglider]

Re veterinarians: it's a large investment for little payback. Also, it seems large animals veterinarians tend to come from rural/ farming backgrounds, which are predominantly white. Honestly, it doesn't seem like a career people from urban or even suburban areas go into, which leaves you with the rural kids who grew up doing FFA and 4H who are overwhelmingly white.


I'm kind of surprised lawyer isn't on there. Looking at the CA bar exam statistics, there were roughly 10x as many white test takers as black. And I would think California would be one of the most diverse states. Even the number of Asian test takers here was really low compared to white. And that's just new members of the profession--the older generations are much more predominantly white.

[CrazyLucky]

Having worked for several different chemical companies, I am surprised to see chemical processing machine workers on this list at all.

[Queen Mamadala]

I'm not surprised. When I moved to Atlanta I was pleasantly surprised to see blacks in more diverse positions and careers in the workforce. I had a black doctor! I had never had a doctor that wasn't white when I lived on the West Coast. It was fascinating. My mom said the same thing.

However, I *wish* the same would extend beyond the Atlanta border. It needs to.