Three Key Observations on Workplace Underrepresentation of Native Americans
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November is Native American Heritage Month, or commonly known as, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month. I have chosen to focus this newsletter on the employment challenges faced by Native Americans. Here at Team JTC, we have been monitoring this situation as part of our ongoing research into diversity recruitment, and I would like to share some crucial points that can assist us in empowering this unique and historically underrepresented group.
For the purposes of this article, I will use “Native Americans” to mean American Indians and Alaska Natives, for consistency with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). But before highlighting the challenges these people face in today’s labor market, I think it is important to begin with a brief historical snapshot to set their situation in context.
The Colonial Period saw Native Americans persistently embroiled in violence and conflict, and many were also forced into slavery during that time. This oppression continued after independence, as the 1830 Indian Removal Act drove over 60,000 Native Americans from their land and forcibly relocated them to “Indian Territory” in present-day Oklahoma. In 1851, Congress then passed the Indian Appropriations Act that created the Indian reserve system. It was not until numerous years later that Native Americans received US citizenship by right in the passage of the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924.
Shortly after WWII, the US government intervened again, initiating the Urban Relocation Program under the auspices of assimilating greater numbers of Native Americans into mainstream culture. However, on arriving in the cities, many of them faced unemployment or low-paid work, poor housing, and discrimination, in addition to experiencing the loss of their traditional cultures. And although some ultimately returned to their reservations, by the 1970s, more Native Americans were living in cities than in rural areas. Today, they account for around 1% of the overall workforce.
With all of this in mind, what factors should we consider when looking to include Native Americans in our diversity recruitment programs?
In answering that question, I would like to share three key observations I think are essential in understanding these communities when it comes to workplace representation.
1. Inequality for Native Americans is not driven by hiring discrimination.
Perhaps surprisingly, two recent academic studies have suggested that Native Americans do not face any overt bias during the hiring process. While this is certainly encouraging, the findings should likely be interpreted with caution as it is also acknowledged as an under researched topic.
2. Native Americans face disproportionately high unemployment rates.
While this was already true before the pandemic, the unemployment rate for Native Americans peaked at 28.6% in 2020, which was around double the rate for all other groups. This inequality has persisted ever since. Between 2020 and 2021, more Native Americans either lost their job or had it cut back than for any other group. And when the BLS finally began reporting the unemployment rate for Native Americans in January 2022, it remained higher than for all other groups.
These two points may seem contradictory at first, but some other factors could help to explain the situation. First, the labor force participation rate for Native Americans is among the lowest, suggesting hidden obstacles outside of the hiring process.
Second, a report by the Brookings Institute found that these people are being left behind due to limited access to remote working, for various reasons (e.g., overcrowded housing and restricted availability of broadband services among Native American communities).
Third, and perhaps most importantly, the college attendance rate for Native Americans is low; and only about half as many have a bachelor’s degree as for the general population. This is apparently both a cultural and financial phenomenon, and the scholarly literature has described it as “a deep, historically unresolved problem,” which likely underlies our third key finding:
3. Native American employees are concentrated in low-skilled occupations.
Using data from the US Census Bureau, a recent academic study concluded that Native Americans are significantly overrepresented in low-skilled jobs and underrepresented in professional occupations. As pointed out by the BLS, this may be a factor in the alarmingly high unemployment rate for this group in 2020, when service sector roles were disproportionately affected during the pandemic.
While job requirements for academic qualifications certainly contribute to underrepresentation, the same study went on to conclude that educational differences do not fully explain the occupational differences. If the above findings on hiring bias are accurate, this suggests that other factors are involved, perhaps including quality of schooling and career mentorship, or geographical location in the case of those still living on (or near) reservations.
But do these “other factors” also mean that Native Americans are discouraged from applying to certain jobs? This may well be the case. For example, they are generally dissuaded by standardized tests during the hiring process, due to the historical role these have played in underrepresentation and exclusion among their communities.
Bringing this all together, what can we learn?
For Native Americans, the available information certainly points toward an obstacle course, but one that may not be so much about the hiring process within an organization. It may be more to do with the factors that dissuade these potential candidates from applying in the first place. Which as you know, here on Team JTC, we believe who you are attracting and detracting is critical to your diversity recruitment strategy and a much more comprehensive hiring process.
So, as we look to increase representation among this group in our organizations, perhaps we need to place more emphasis on attracting and sourcing. Also ensure that the selection process is culturally sensitive, and make this clear in your messaging to prospective employees in job descriptions and other relevant content.
And in line with many other employers, you could consider dropping the degree requirement for roles where it is not essential. Given their uncomfortable historical relationship with the education system, this might be especially appealing to Native Americans.
As we commemorate the world’s Indigenous peoples this week, I encourage you to take that as an opportunity to consider how you can better serve indigenous communities through your DEI and recruitment efforts, especially if they are currently underrepresented in your organization.
JOIN US IN THE COMMENTS: Did anything in this article resonate with you strongly, based on your own experiences or that of your organization? If you’ve already attained equal representation for Native Americans in your workplace, what were the key factors that enabled you to achieve this? As always, we appreciate the valuable insights our readers can bring to the conversation.
