Research results from Working Mother Media's 2009 Best Companies for Multicultural Women shows a surprising trend in the position of multicultural women in business.  Between 2003 and 2007, the rate of total multicultural women hires at our winning companies continued to outpace attrition, 18% versus 15%, respectively. All told, multicultural women represent 12% of managers, 6% of senior managers and 4% of both corporate executives and the boards of directors at our winning companies. By contrast, according to government statistics, of all people employed in management, professional and related occupations, African-American women represent 5.1%, Asian-American women represent 2.8% and Latinas represent 3.6% of the workforce. The results were unveiled at the Working Mother Media's 2009 Best Companies for Multicultural Women National Conference in New York.

“This powerful research is going to give companies a specific direction and concrete steps to take to advance multicultural women,” Carol Evans, President of Working Mother Media. “And multicultural women will be able to lean on this research to get the support they need to advance.  I am thrilled to bring this exciting work to our national conference and to the attention of American business.”     The most surprising finding from this year’s data shows the impact gender has on workplace representation. Our research finds that as multicultural women move up the corporate ladder, their representation shrinks significantly, even against their male multicultural peers. The representation of multicultural women declines 66% between the manager level versus corporate executives or board of directors members, while the decline for multicultural men is only 21% between the manager and corporate executive levels; and actually rises slightly at the board of directors level. “We knew minority women represent a far smaller share of total workforce than non-multicultural men and women, but, to see the same exact 12-point slide appear as multicultural and non-multicultural women move up the ladder puts into stark relief the double bind that multicultural women still find themselves in.” says, Senior Director of Research, Jennifer Owens who oversaw the survey and benchmark results. “Despite their varied industries, our winning companies share a common bond – a commitment to building and advancing a diverse workforce.  From leadership training to career counseling and mentoring, these winning companies are leading the charge for change.”

Download the Research Executive Summary