Black Female Clerical Workers: Movement toward Equality with White Women?

This article examines the occupational mobility patterns of black and white female clerical workers from 1972 to 1980. Black women were initially concentrated in the lower-paying clerical positions and were less likely than white women to leave for better jobs in other areas. Those black women who had relatively good clerical jobs tended not to rise any further and even experienced some difficulty in maintaining their occupational status. Education and training aided occupational mobility less for black women than for white women.