Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Despite growing concern over cultural competence and diversity in the registered nursing (RN) workforce, minority RNs working in hospitals in New York City who were surveyed in 2007 earned less on average than their non-Hispanic White counterparts. Regression decomposition was applied to these data to investigate how much of the differential could be attributed to different characteristics of different racial/ethnic groups and how much could be attributed to differential valuation of characteristics between racial/ethnic groups. The earnings differential between Black/African American and non-Hispanic White RNs was about equally due to different characteristics and differential valuation of characteristics, but the earnings differentials between Hispanic/Latino RNs and non-Hispanic White RNs and between Asian/Pacific Islander RNs and non-Hispanic White RNs were about two-thirds due to different characteristics and one-third due to differential valuation of their characteristics. In particular, years of nursing experience did not translate into the same earnings advantages for minority RNs.

Keywords

Registered nursing diversity workforce earnings

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Becker, G. ( 1985). The allocation of effort, specific human capital, and the differences between men and women in earnings and occupations. Journal of Labor Economics, 3, 33-58.

Browne, I. , Hewitt, C. , Tigges, L. , & Green, G. ( 2001). Why does job segregation lead to wage inequality among African-Americans? Person, place, sector, or skills? Social Science Research, 30, 473-495.

Canudas Romo, V. ( 2003). Decomposition methods in demography. Bibliotheek, Dissertations, University of Groningen . Retrieved December 9, 2009, from http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/faculties/rw/2003/v.canudas.romo/

Carnoy, M. ( 1996). Race, gender, and the role of education in earnings inequality: An introduction. Economics of Education Review, 15, 207-212.

Grodsky, E. , & Pager, D. ( 2001). The structure of disadvantage: Individual and occupational determinants of the black-white wage gap. American Sociological Review, 66, 542-567.

Hout, M. ( 1984). Occupational mobility of black men: 1962 to 1973. American Sociological Review, 49, 308-322.

Massey, D.S. , & Denton, N.A. ( 1993). American apartheid: Segregation and the making of the underclass. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

McGinnis, S. , & Martiniano, R. (2008). The hospital nurse workforce in New York: Findings from a survey of hospital registered nurses. Rensselaer: Center for Health Workforce Studies, State University of New York.

O’Neill, J. ( 1990). The role of human capital in earnings differences between white and black men. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 4, 25-45.

10.

Smedley, B. , Stith, A. , & Nelson, A. (Eds.). ( 2003). Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2003.

11.

Sullivan, L.W. ( 2004). Missing persons: Minorities in the health professions (A report of the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce) . Washington, DC: The Sullivan Commission .

12.

Tomoskovic-Devey, D. , & Skaggs, S. ( 1993). An establishment level test of the statistical discrimination hypothesis. Work and Occupations, 26, 420-443.

13.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2008). May 2007 National industry-specific occupational employment and wage estimates . Retrieved September 21, 2008, from http://www.bls.gov/oes/2007/may/naics3_622000.htm

14.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2000, April). National estimates. Quarterly population estimates, 1980 to 1999. Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/1980s/80s_nat_detail.html

15.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2001, January). Population estimates. Annual population estimates by sex, race, and Hispanic origin, Selected years from 1990 to 2000. Retrieved September 2, 2008, from http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/1990s/nat_sex_race_hispanic.html

16.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2004a). U.S. interim projections by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin: 2000-2050. National Population Projections. Retrieved September 2, 2008 , from http://www.census.gov/population/www./projections/usinterimproj/usproj2000-2050.xls

17.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2004b). American community survey public use microdata system. American FactFinder (Table B03002). Retrieved December 1, 2009, from http://factfinder.census.gov

18.

U.S. Census Bureau. (2007). American community survey public use microdata system. American FactFinder. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/acs_pums_2007_1yr.html

19.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2004a). What is behind HRSA’s projected supply, demand and shortages of registered nurses? Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from ftp://ftp.hrsa.gov/bhpr/workforce/behindshortage.pdf

20.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2004b). National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Washington, DC: Author.

21.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2006). The registered nurse population: Findings from the March 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/rnsurvey04/

An Analysis of Racial/Ethnic Pay Disparities Among Hospital Nurses in New York City

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References