While Wall Street Gets More Diverse, White Men Still Take Home Much More Money

Though the Wall Street workforce is getting more diverse, white men are still taking home most of the bacon.

White men made up more than 60 percent of Wall Street workers aged 45 and over between 2005 and 2009, but just 46 percent of those 30 and younger, according to a recent City University of New York's Center for Urban Research analysis of Census data. But in almost all categories, the earnings of white males came out on top, with white men aged 31 to 44 earning at least double that of their non-white and female counterparts.

Critics have long bemoaned the lack of diversity on Wall Street. A provision of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act aimed at pushing Wall Street firms to hire more women and minorities, according to Politico -- a measure that drew criticism from Republicans.

Most of the diversity gains on Wall Street came from an uptick in the share of Asian workers, the study found, while the percentage of black Wall Street employees hasn't increased. And though the share of women working on Wall Street gets larger as workers get younger, the overall percentage of women working in financial firms declined between 2000 and 2005-2009.

"The most surprising findings regard women because as we know women now outperform men in the educational system," Richard Alba, one of the authors of the report, told the Wall Street Journal. "They have higher rates of getting [bachelor's of arts degrees] and post-graduate degrees and that they still lag so much behind in terms of their position on Wall Street I found really remarkable."

In 2008, women accounted for 18.8 percent of executives, managers and senior-level officers at companies that fall into the "Securities, Commodity Contracts & Other Financial Investments" category, according to a Catalyst analysis cited by fins.com. Nineteen percent of the managing directors Goldman Sachs named last month were women, compared to 24 percent last year. At Morgan Stanley, 16 percent of new managing directors were women.

Comments

[Ed Baker]

03:18 PM on 12/06/2011

So when people other than white men earn money, that's a good thing, and when white males earn money that's a bad thing.

Sounds like racism to me.

[Ray Temple]

08:16 AM on 12/06/2011

Folks see through the racial crap and we are all given provisional rights equally

[xdroog]

06:35 PM on 12/05/2011

C'mon HP, if you're going to throw the diversity issue on the table at least keep it real. Google "Who controls Wall Street" and see how disproportionately over represented Jewish Americans are on Wall Street.

The title would be more accurate if it said "While Wall Street Gets More Diverse, Jewish Men Still Take Home Much More Money"

[Gaaltero]

10:04 AM on 12/05/2011

Big deal. Only in the lower ranks. And nowhere near were the real power is in the board rooms and exec suites.

[El Chingaso]

02:31 AM on 12/05/2011

Reading a majority of these posts, it's easy to conclude that most were written by individuals of marginal education & skills who work in low-wage jobs and are deep in debt.

Remember: when you point a finger at some white guy, you have three pointing back...at you. Wall Street is wide open to anyone that can produce results...and not blame others for their own shortcomings and self-entitlement issues. Wall Street "ain't" some union job or government gig...

[salesdude]

10:04 AM on 12/05/2011

After your first condescending sentence you launch into a sermon about how Wall Street is open to ANYONE WHO THAT PRODUCE RESULTS. That is a fundamental misunderstanding about Wall Street financial institutions and their hiring practices. They in no way throw open their doors to the masses of college graduates and select the best qualified. In fact, the only way to even be considered for a job at a top firm is to have either the right pedigree or have someone on the inside who can advocate for you. The number of jobs on Wall Street is not large so therefore it stands to reason that the majority of new hires would be white males who benefit from better educations than most minority applicants and who would in the firm's estimation be a better "fit" in the old boy culture than similarly qualified females.

This contention that ANYONE can make it on Wall Street through merit is utopian thinking that just doesn't stand up to the smell test. If it were true then Wall Street would look more like the United Nations uptown. White males still have the advantage in this society and no matter how much it's denied, it's still true none the less. Denying that fact [even to themselves] may relieve some of the guilt, animosity, or entitlement they feel, but it doesn't change reality.

[El Chingaso]

04:12 PM on 12/05/2011

Your entire reply is nothing more than...an excuse based on the imaginary. Good luck, Holmes...

[Ed Baker]

03:15 PM on 12/06/2011

Yeah, when I went to work in finance, it was all the connections I'd made in my posh upbringing in that trailer park in rural Michigan. :)

[Miss Peaches]

08:45 PM on 12/04/2011

Tell me something I don't know. I do twice the work for half the pay. I've had to fight for every dime I've earned! Even had to do a work load analysis with the powers that be. I still don't earn what they do!

[Ed Baker]

03:15 PM on 12/06/2011

Work does not pay - learn it.

[FiredUpRTG]

06:48 PM on 12/04/2011

Men hire men who look like their little brothers, or their brother's best friend, or the neighbor, or the college roommate. This new generation will be different, hopefully, as they will know and be comfortable with a greater variety of people… starting with who can be president.

[Intelligentia]

05:24 PM on 12/04/2011

When they make the blanked designation of "women," they should break it up into race and etnicity, because, at the end of the day, the reality is that whatever White men failed to usurp is mopped up by White women. Minority women, like their men, are facing the same thing. And, the exclusion has nothing to do with merit!

[USA 1776-2008 RIP]

06:08 PM on 12/04/2011

They make up 13% of the population, if they make up more than that on Wall street, it would only be because the are forcing unqualified workers into positions they have no reason on earth to hold. Why must this one group, always have a pacifier and diaper mentality, govern they way they conduct their daily lives? This is the very reason we are stuck with obama. They labeled those who voted against him racist, so those that are easily spooked at that critism, held their noses and voted, knowing they were making a very poor, irrational decision. We are seeing the results of putting one in a position they are not qualified to hold, with millons of Americans suffering the result. On Wall Street they can hide the unqualified token. When it comes to the WH, his failures are wide open.

[Miss Peaches]

08:50 PM on 12/04/2011

Dude the same can be said for the Good Ol' Boy networks cousins, uncles, sisters friend of the family hires!!! Why do you insist on keeping the status quo when there are plenty of qualifed minority candidates but the Good Ol' Boy network continues to prevail.

[O Really]

08:50 PM on 12/04/2011

Quotas only produce unqualified persons..?

Wall Street's meltdown was not caused by quota structures­,
and they presumably were the most qualified.­..?

You believe in a 'Myth Meritocrac­y' not evident to most
as we see from the 'OWS' movement..­they don't buy it anymore..

GWB benefited from 'Legacy' quotas
BHO benefited presumably from some 'AA' quotas
They both made it to highest office in the land..
Though not in favor of quotas..
In some sense, one can conclude that they do work for some..
not all

FYI
The Stimulus averted a Great Depression II ( -10% GDP )
to a Great Recession ( -9% GDP ) to a Mild Recovery ( +2% GDP )..

The Jobs Losses slowed from -750,000 / mth.. to...+ 105,000 / mth ( private sector )
Stock Market rebounded ( Wall Street took bonuses )
Record Corporate Profits ( CEOs took bonuses )

The Stimulus ....
1/3 in Tax Cuts to Middle Class America
1/3 to Infrastruc­­­ture
1/3 to States ( Pork, Entitlemen­­­t Programs )

The Dems control the Senate but without 60 votes cannot stop the filibuster king McConnell from stopping debate on Bills to enact legislatio­­­n...and The House sets fiscal policy..

And Obama is no Superman who would have to fly circles around the world to reverse
GWB's failed policies from 8 years in office in record time..

Enough for today's lesson...comeback tomorrow

[Miss Peaches]

08:47 PM on 12/04/2011

Tell me about it!!! I actually had a boss tell me that the intern that was there for 6mos had more experience than me. Of course I made him eat his words, but she came in at the top and I had to fight my way to the top and I'm almost 100% positive she earns more than I do.

[Intelligentia]

09:22 PM on 12/04/2011

Hang in there. It's difficult but not insurmountable. Just make sure that you're always a step ahead in your educational and professional development. It is satisfying that those placed above you have no doubt that they were not placed above you because they were smarted or "more qualified."

[gomezrules]

05:20 PM on 12/04/2011

So just what are the 'magic quotas' that the left will hang their hats on and pronounce as 'good'?

[Matt12]

04:31 PM on 12/04/2011

If by diversity it's meant that there are few more Italians, Asians (all ethnicities) mainly in the lower ranks, and token WASPs, well then, perhaps.

[skynetchaos]

03:36 PM on 12/04/2011

It doesn't matter the West is going down. Liberals can complain all day long. They have no workable answers. All they can point to is white countires in Europe as success stories.

[O Really]

05:51 PM on 12/04/2011

Are you paying attention to global markets..?

The E.U. is teetering on break up..due to the toxic debt of some of its members..
Greece just got bailed out, after Ireland and Portugal..Italy is still a cliff hanger..
Same banking woes that led to the crisis here...Wall Street Greed exported overseas:

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_sovereign_debt_crisis

"In 1992 members of the European Union signed the Maastricht Treaty, under which they pledged to limit their deficit spending and debt levels. However, a number of EU member states, including Greece and Italy, were able to circumvent these rules and mask their deficit and debt levels through the use of complex currency and credit derivatives structures.[22][23] The structures were designed by prominent U.S. investment banks, who received substantial fees in return for their services and who took on little credit risk themselves thanks to special legal protections for derivatives counterparties.[22] The aftermath of the late-2000s financial crisis and the global economic slowdown led to a further increase of government debt levels of European countries."

[sylvia wadlington]

03:36 PM on 12/04/2011

So women and minorities haven't won yet. Doesn't mean any of us are giving up on leveling the playing field. Women can make it to the top AND not all women opt to have children just so they can. It used to be a white man's world out there, but that world is quickly slipping away and the future is bringing a new world for EVERYONE. This planet is an amazingly rich place and there are millions of people who want to work and develope our resources for a world that IS FAIR ENOUGH that EVERYONE can live well, have a family if they choose too, and seek their own happiness, free from despots, warlords, crooked politicians and SOULESS CORPORATIONS. As humans, we need to get organized and work for the betterment of everyone, everywhere.

[Kriol Kidd]

01:19 PM on 12/04/2011

....in other breaking news .....the sun rose in the east today......

[Intelligentia]

04:24 PM on 12/04/2011

Amen!

[rt1027]

12:34 PM on 12/04/2011

so what, in my company for certain jobs...... you are in my family or you don't get the job......and that will not be changing until i run out of family that can do those jobs

all very legal as i don't post those job openings

[Miss Peaches]

08:53 PM on 12/04/2011

Cronyism??? You know the Tea Party doesn't like that too much.

[rt1027]

05:57 AM on 12/05/2011

it is called "nepotism" not "cronyism"....laughing at you now

[Nolan Darch]

12:18 PM on 12/04/2011

Who cares about the color of evils skin? It is still evil.