Identifying a Key Employment Hurdle Contributing to Hispanic Underrepresentation
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This week marks the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, which is observed from September 15 to October 15 every year. Originally established as Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968, this annual celebration grew out of the civil rights movement in recognition of the contribution of the Latinx and Hispanic communities to the history of the United States.
Twenty years later, President Ronald Reagan signed our now familiar monthly observance into law. The choice to begin Hispanic Heritage Month on September 15 was important to the community because it coincides with the independence anniversary for several Latin American countries.
In honor of this year’s celebration, today’s newsletter continues our recent series on employment “hurdles” for marginalized groups by highlighting one main barrier facing the Hispanic community.
CALL TO ACTION: Throughout this article series, we want to engage with you, our community, to learn more about organizations that are tackling these hurdles. Our goal is to amplify the good work they are doing to dismantle major employment obstacles and increase diversity and retention.
First, a brief word on the terms “Latinx” and “Hispanic,” as there is sometimes confusion over their meaning. “Latinx” refers specifically to people with ancestry in Latin America, while “Hispanic” was coined by the federal government to include all people descended from Spanish-speaking cultures.
You will notice we have used both terms in this article, and we were intentional about this. As a broader term, “Hispanic” tends to be preferred in official statistics, while some of our cited sources relate to the Latinx community specifically.
In reality, the terms are closely related as the vast majority of the Hispanic community in the US are Latinx people. Around 63 million people identify as Hispanic, or 19% of the overall population.
During Hispanic Heritage Month last year, we highlighted how employees who identify as Hispanic often face workplace discrimination and are highly segregated into lower-paid jobs.
But what factors are driving these persistent trends?
Our latest research at Team JTC has uncovered a key employment hurdle for Hispanic folks that we particularly want to bring to your attention today. While we are aware that other hurdles exist and should not be overlooked, we are keen to explore one where the weight of evidence seems strongest. Understanding this is essential to build improved recruitment and retention initiatives for the Hispanic workforce.
The Hurdle: Educational Barriers to Employment
Hispanic workers are strongly underrepresented in management and professional roles compared with the US average. For instance, people identifying as Hispanic or Latinx account for only 3.6% of directors among Russell 3000 companies, despite making up 19% of the US population. And research from the Economic Policy Institute indicates that workers who identify as Latinx are the most underrepresented ethnic group across the majority of professional occupations.
One reason for these disparities may be unequal access to education.
In the case of higher education, the proportion of Hispanic adults with at least a bachelor’s degree grew from 15% in 2012 to 21% in 2022, but this remains lower than for any other ethnic group and stands well below the US average of 38%.
This means Hispanic job seekers are hit hardest by the unnecessary degree requirements that some employers seemingly use as a “skills proxy,” but which disqualify many candidates from marginalized groups who may otherwise have the relevant skills.
I looked at this in depth in a previous article, explaining how the four-year college degree requirement is often unwarranted and seems to have been adopted by employers as a kind of proxy for certain skills rather than testing for those skills directly. As a consequence, the degree stipulation reinforces exclusion of historically underrepresented groups where it is needlessly applied.
But why do fewer Hispanics gain college degrees to begin with, compared with other groups?
This may reflect the importance of family in Hispanic culture. Many students from Hispanic communities are “nontraditional” students in the sense that they balance work or family commitments with a college course, but four-year degree programs are not generally designed with this in mind.
Last year, one survey discovered that over half of students identifying as Latinx had considered quitting college during the past 12 months, which was more than any other ethnic group, and they were also more likely to cite caregiving responsibilities as a reason.
The CEO of Excelencia in Education, an advocacy organization representing the Latinx community, argued that the higher education system must adapt to serve the needs of the many “nontraditional” students now attending college.
The Hispanic community also has the lowest rate of high school completion (75.2%, compared with over 90% for all other groups), and the high cost of attending college could be a factor. The size of the Hispanic–White wage gap means that Hispanic students who want to attend college often start working in middle school to pay for it, but this could affect their school education.
Taken together, we can conclude that embedded cultural, systemic, and financial factors combine to create significant educational hurdles that result in the continued marginalization of the Hispanic community.
Hurdle #2: Non-English Language Preference
Many Hispanic people (particularly immigrants) face difficulties with English language proficiency, otherwise known as "language barriers."
The federal government uses the term “limited English proficiency” (LEP) to describe anyone who identifies as speaking English less than “very well.” Statistics on LEP are compiled from the annual American Community Survey conducted by the US Census Bureau, with language data collected for people 5 years of age and over.
Around 40 million Americans (or 13.2% of the population) identify as Spanish speakers, with three in five saying that they speak English “very well.” This means that some 40% of Spanish speakers, or 16 million people, meet the official definition of LEP.
There are considerable variations in English proficiency across the country, however. Since the majority of LEP residents are Spanish speakers, the highest LEP share by population is found in states with large Hispanic communities: California (19%), Texas (14%), and New York (14%).
Among Spanish speakers, most people who self-identify as LEP are immigrants. In terms of employment barriers, finding work does not seem to be the main issue but there is evidence for significant Hispanic discrimination in employment that leads to lower incomes and poor working conditions. Therefore, LEP may contribute to the well-documented segregation of Hispanic workers into lower-paid jobs that we mentioned above, as it tends to limit their employment options.
There is also a link to the first hurdle here, because Census data indicates lower educational attainment among people who identify as Spanish speakers: only 17% have a bachelor’s degree or higher, and one-third of adults did not graduate from high school. Clearly, the education system is not serving LEP residents as well as it should.
Before moving on, it’s worth commenting briefly on the term “limited English proficiency,” which has recently come under fire for being rooted in “deficit-based thinking.”
To better align with DEI principles and values, other terms have been suggested including “non-English language preference” (NELP), and we think this is an important step in using more effective language that includes rather than excludes.
How Should We Respond?
In our own workplaces, it goes without saying that we should look to avoid or remove this hurdle, such as by dropping unnecessary degree requirements or adopting skills-based hiring where possible.
Beyond that, many fantastic organizations are working to dismantle educational barriers. We have already encountered Excelencia in Education and are keen to know of similar organizations our community members have worked with, including any notable success stories.
Be sure to use the rest of Hispanic Heritage Month to engage in new conversations and raise awareness of the issues raised in today’s article where you work. In that way, we can each do our part in promoting equitable employment opportunities for the Hispanic community throughout the US.
JOIN US IN THE COMMENTS: We greatly appreciate community feedback and would like to hear about organizations that are specifically tackling the hurdles we have identified today. Also, has your workplace already implemented ESL programs or skills-based hiring and seen the benefits?
