Factors Influencing Racial Segregation in the Workplace in the United States: A Longitudinal Analysis, 2000 and 2018

This longitudinal study examines the perceptions of those employed regarding racial segregation in the contemporary American workplace. Information collected by the General Social Survey (GSS) in 2000 and 2018 was used to focus on perceptions of individuals who were working full-time or part-time. A variety of independent variables including age, gender, race, educational attainment, personal income, work status, and type of work organization were utilized as control variables. Conflict theory, in conjunction with race relations theory, was applied for framing the dynamics between the predictor variables and workplace racial segregation. Four research hypotheses were developed and examined. Using binary logistic regression analysis, it was found that race was the strongest predictor of perceptions of racial segregation in the workplace. The findings demonstrated that black employees were five times more likely to identify workplace racial segregation in comparison to white employees. None of the other independent variables impacted the perceptions of black respondents. White respondents perceptions of racial segregation were influenced by educational and work status. Irrespective of the control variables, blacks were more likely to perceive racial segregation in comparison to their white counterparts. The differences in black and white respondent perceptions remained relatively unchanged over the eighteen-year period.