Race Affects Career Opportunities Uncovering the racial injustice towards people of color through the lens of career opportunities By Aurna Mukherjee
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he was sitting on her desk as her boss walked over and handed over her paycheck. It was the same as it had been for the last few years, but then, she noticed that her white colleague, who had less experience and tenure than her, had been consistently getting a higher pay than her. If someone were to ask any one person if racism is wrong, they would surely respond with a quick “yes,” yet this is a common problem in Austin; there is a struggle for career opportunities specifically for people of color. V Rohatgi, director of engineering at a high tech company and MH, vice president of institutional planning, development and evaluation at an educational institution, have both experienced and seen these issues firsthand. Rohatgi said the demographics of his department were not very racially diverse. “I did have my peer in HR (Human Resources) run demographic numbers, at least for my team, and it’s [not very diverse],” Rohatgi said. “You have other minority groups, [but] I haven’t actually met a Black engineer at [my company]. I’m sure 14 Austin Divided
Black employees working together on project. (Courtesy of Unsplash)
there are a few here and there, but very few. Hispanics, there are some, but very few. There’s mostly white and Asian males.” Rohatgi said that the disparity in race is likely influenced by a lack of promotion of STEM for young people of color. Rohatgi said many people of color do not have the same opportunities and exposure to STEM at a young age as others, leading to colored individuals steering away from these careers. “Look at it from a STEM
standpoint, is everyone learning the sciences and math? From genders to all minorities, the answer is not really,” Rohatgi said. “Then if you advance in higher education, you can start to see all of these opportunities start to close off for a lot of these different minority groups.” H is a Black woman of color, and has experienced this education gap through personal experience. H described a lack of racial diversity in her career, intensifying her issues with less
