Black Women are Still Paid Less than Men Despite their Positions, College Degrees or Years of Experience, According to Study

Black-owned businesses are thriving because of Black women, but Black women are still struggling in the corporate world. While the gender pay gap is starting to close, Black women are still being paid the least. The worst part is, no matter how many college degrees or years of experience they have, they are paid less than men, according to a study from Payscale.com.

Research shows that Black women make $0.99 for every $1 white men make. But, when the job title is an executive role, that rate falls even further to $0.95 for Black women, according to the study.

Researchers wrote in the study, “Race and gender intersect to result in wider pay gaps for women of color.”

In comparison, white women make more than Black women except in an executive role, where they make $0.94 for every $1 a white man makes. In manager roles, Black and white women both make $0.97 for every $1 a white man makes.

Researchers also wrote, “All women of color except for Black women start out with controlled pay equity relative to white men at the individual contributor level, but as they progress up the corporate ladder, the gender pay gap widens.”

When only accounting for gender, the disparity in pay is even worse. Women will make $0.82 for every $1 that men make. But even if women have the same educational and professional training and backgrounds, women are still earning less than men at $0.99 for every $1 that men make.

While these numbers have shown major improvements over the years, it’s still not good enough to say that people of all genders and races are on the same professional playing field. Black women in particular are the ones taking the biggest impact on the income disparity. Which in turn, has widened the racial wealth gap for their families, according to the study.