Tuck's Ella Bell Talks to Newsweek and NPR About the Black Gender Gap

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—March 6, 2003

CONTACT: Kim Keating—603-646-2733

HANOVER, N.H.—Black, educated women, are journeying into uncharted waters in the workplace, says Tuck School Professor Ella Bell in the March 3 issue of Newsweek. Bell was interviewed for the cover story titled, "The Black Gender Gap." The article prompted an invitation for Bell to appear on National Public Radio's The Tavis Smiley Show on February 25 to discuss the financial gap between African-American men and women.

The Newsweek article focuses on a growing educational-achievement gap that is having a strong impact on relations between the sexes and in the labor market. The article claims that in the corporate arena, college-educated black women already earn more than their average black male counterparts and earn more even than most women in general. The article cites statistics that say 24 percent of black American women have ascended to the professional-managerial class, while only 17 percent of black American men have reached the same status. These numbers do not negate further figures stating that 14 percent of working African-American women actually remain below the poverty level, or that African-American men's earning still outstrip the women's.

Professor Bell is the coauthor of Our Separate Ways—a study of black and white women in corporations, that looks at the surprising differences between black and white women's trials and triumphs climbing the executive ladder. In the book, Bell compares the experiences of 120 female managers in U.S. business. In her classes with MBA students at Tuck, Bell actively promotes debate on issues connected with gender and work/life balance. She asks the students to role play, and encourages them to look at the issues from other points of view.

In the Newsweek article, Bell muses on what the future holds for black women, given this recent shift in both relationship and labor trends. "Black educated women have a degree of liberty no other group of women have had... It will be interesting to see what they do with it."

Appearing on The Tavis Smiley Show, Bell commented on the current status of African-American women in the workplace. "When you look at the succession plans in companies black women are not being brought to the table in key leadership roles," she noted. She feels this is due to the fact that white men, who tend to be those responsible for promoting employees, are not used to dealing with black women in the workplace. They are comfortable with them, historically, being in traditional roles such as child caregiver, cleaner, or teacher, but in the corporate arena in managerial roles, "black women an unknown entity for them," says Bell.

Professor Bell made the point that although employing an African-American woman counts as a "twofer" for a company—the company gets points for employing or promoting a woman, and a black woman at that—there is still a wariness about what to expect of these high-achieving women. Bell suggests that this "twofer" could be one of the reasons for what she perceives as new competition among African-American men and women within corporations, as they vie with each other for the limited number of choice jobs open to black employees. She see this as resulting in a situation of "noncommunication, overlaid with competition," suggesting that black brothers and sisters "have forgotten how to communicate with one another," especially in the current economic climate.

Bell is pleased that the Newsweek issue on the subject had caught national attention, despite any perceived notion of the African-American community airing its dirty laundry in public. "Where are the safe places to have these conversations?" Bell asked Tavis Smiley. "They should be taking place in the communities, in the churches...bubbling up in the workplace."

Founded in 1900, Tuck is the first graduate school of management and consistently ranks among the top business schools worldwide. Information about the Tuck School is available at www.tuck.dartmouth.edu.