By: Ashley Flores, Joshua Clement, and Brittany Fugate
The fight for equality persists to this day; however, it should have been implemented decades ago. While the disparity between wage gaps in regards to both gender and race has decreased through the years, the data has proven to be nothing but underwhelming. Data suggest that white women earned 82% of white men earned while Black and Hispanic women earned 65% and 58%. Both race and gender intersect when it comes to determining issues such as wage disparity. Women continue to get severely underpaid than their white male counterparts, but the problem escalates when race and ethnicity is taken into account. The harsh reality is this problem remains true in all settings, especially academia.
According to the California State University Employees Union (CSUEU) there has been a significant change in wage gaps within their faculty. However, that does not change the fact that employees who do the same amount of work as their white or Asian counterparts still get paid significantly less. This remains true for Cal State University San Bernardino. Known for having a prominent Hispanic and Latino outreach, the faculty does not reflect this. According to the school’s website, there are a total of 577 white faculty members within the university, while there are approximately 201 Hispanic faculty members. According to CSUEU, in their study they found that the monthly wage mean between white faculty members and their Hispanic counterparts is 20.39%. The wage disparity between these two groups perfectly demonstrates how race/ethnicity plays a key factor in determining the value of pay for employees. Even though Cal State San Bernardino has a predominantly Hispanic/Latino population, white people make up the majority of the school’s faculty while also carrying the majority of the wealth.
However, while this remains true a different demographic has started to sustain the majority of the wealth. Within Cal State San Bernardino there are approximately 70 Asian Male employees and 74 Asian Female. In their study, CSUEU data suggests that through the years Asian faculty members have started to sustain most of the wealth within the CSU system. The average monthly salary mean for an Asian male within CSU is $5,591 and an Asian female is $5,165. This data applies to all CSU’s; however, specifically for Cal State San Bernardino their monthly wage surpasses their white counterparts all the while they make up a small portion of their faculty.
The intersection between race and gender to this day influences the value of people’s salary. Women and people of color have always been paid significantly less than their white male counterparts. CSUEU reveals that within academia in comparison to white men, Black men earned 78% and Hispanic men earned 81% of wealth. Additionally, white women make 78% of wealth compared to their white male counterparts, whereas Black women make 72% and Hispanic women make 69%.
Income inequality while it has progressed through the years, it has recently been proven to be stagnant. Still, women of color continue to battle both misogyny and racism within the systems implemented in this country. Their wealth continues to stay at disproportionate rates compared to white people, furthering their struggle in trying to advance their position in society.
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