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7/18/04
WORKPLACE African-American, Asian, and Hispanic women are more likely to file workplace discrimination charges today than they did in the past, a new study says. Based on data from the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the study shows that the number of sexual harassment, age discrimination, and gender bias complaints increased significantly among women of color between 1992 and 2003. In addition, said the study, women of color were more likely to claim that they were discriminated against because of the country where they were born and raised. Such claims are called national origin charges. The National Partnership for Women & Families, a national advocacy group in Washington D.C. that released the report, said its goal is not to determine which group of women experienced the most discrimination. ''Such an analysis would be both futile and counterproductive because it pits different groups of women against each other,'' said the group. ''Moreover, the numbers discussed in this report are not comprehensive and do not include every claim filed with the commission.'' The data reveal that sex discrimination claims rose 12 percent for all complainants. However, claims of gender bias increased 68 percent among Hispanic women to 1,763, up from 1,052. Native American women filed 118 complaints, up from 82 in 1992, representing a 44 percent increase. During the same period, gender bias complaints brought by African-American women rose 20 percent to 4,686, up from 3,898. The nonprofit women's advocacy organization decided to look more closely at the data because women's experiences at work can vary depending on race and ethnicity. It said it hopes its findings will lead to more detailed research on industries to determine whether women working in a particular sector are more prone to bias and, if so, find new ways to prevent it. ''Unless you break out the numbers by race and ethnicity as well as gender you cannot see the differences,'' said Jocelyn Fry, a co-author of the report. ''White women, Asian women, Native American, African-American and Hispanic women each have unique experiences. We felt we needed to address that.'' According to the report, the number of national origin charges filed by all women rose 22 percent. ''But that increase is due primarily to increases in discrimination charges by women of color,'' the report said. For example, the number of national origin charges brought by Latina women increased 16 percent to 1,791 in 2003. Similar charges filed by African-American women rose 92 percent to 502. Fry said she and other researchers surmised that women from Africa, the West Indies, Latin America, or Asia could have become more aware of their workplace rights. When researchers took a closer look at sexual harassment complaints filed between 1992 and 2003, they found that women of color filed more in 2003 than they did previously, too. Reports of sexual harassment among Latina women rose to 717, an increase of 120 percent. For Asian women, reports of sexual harassment rose 100 percent to 128 last year.  ''These numbers paint a disturbing picture,'' said Debra Ness, also a co-author and president of the organization. The national partnership hopes the data will encourage agencies like the EEOC to look more closely at the filings for women ''to determine how to enforce the law better.'' David Grinberg, a spokesman for the EEOC, said the agency has been looking at its data more closely. Under the leadership of EEOC chairwoman Cari Dominguez, the commission ''has been examining ways to leverage and more effectively utilize our data, albeit with limited resources,'' said Grinberg in an e-mailed statement. ''We've also worked collaboratively with academic researchers to provide data for their studies, including Harvard University and the University of Washington.'' Grinberg said the EEOC assisted the national partnership by supplying the data for the group's report on the complaints filed by women of color, and the agency has issued several data reports concerning diversity and the glass ceiling. --DIANE E. LEWIS
WORK/LIFE Juggling the demands of work and family doesn't end in the summer. ClubMom, a national organization that represents working mothers, said balancing work and child care becomes even more challenging when summer arrives and the children are out of school. The group, which surveyed 166 mothers, found that 55 percent say juggling home and work responsibilities is a bigger challenge in the summer. Sixty-one percent manage by sending one or more of the children off to day care or camp. Twenty-five percent of the children will go off to day care, 25 percent will go to day camp, and 11 percent will be at sleep away camp this summer, the survey said. How do these mothers feel about sending the children to camp? Thirty-five percent said they felt relieved. Seventeen percent were said that they had to make such arrangements. Not all mothers will be relying fully on camp or day care. Forty-eight percent said they plan to work and take care of their children some of the time. Thirty-three percent said their husbands will be doing some child care this summer, and 46 percent are counting on a family member to help out at times. While many of the women believed their employers understood what they were going through, 63 percent never bring their children to the office in the summer. Fifteen percent said they will probably bring the kids in once, and 11 percent will do it two or three times. --DIANE E. LEWIS
EMPLOYMENT Summer will mean internships at Citizens Bank for 25 Boston area students. The bank said last week it will find summer jobs for 42 students from Madison Park High School. Of the 42, 17 will work for nonprofits throughout the city. The rest will serve as interns in the bank's corporate offices and branches in Boston, Medford, and Quincy. The decision to provide work for the students is part of the bank's efforts to support Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino's summer jobs program. Said Menino: ''In addition to providing students with positive ways to spend the summer, the summer jobs program and companies like Citizens help our teens gain valuable work experience, make useful business connections, and develop lasting skills.'' Summer jobs in Boston have been difficult to find in recent years because of budget constraints and the recession. In addition, some employers who slashed their full-time payrolls also reduced the number of internships and jobs available for the summer. --DIANE E. LEWIS
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