Research Making the News

Racial Bias in Medicine: A Subconscious Barrier to COVID-19 Equity 

A recent study suggests that structural circumstances in Black and Latino communities – such as housing inequality, access to health care, limited employment opportunities and poverty – may explain disproportionately higher out-of-hospital deaths due to COVID-19 among these communities. Yet while these are valid and complex obstacles to health equity, one barrier that health care providers can affect directly is the role implicit bias has in medical decision-making. Just as all physicians must achieve sufficient knowledge of the structure and function of the body, all must also be trained in social topics that cause barriers to health equity, including the role they may inadvertently play in perpetuating those barriers.

Citing: Assessment of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Hospitalization and Mortality in Patients with COVID-19 in New York City by Gbenga Ogedegbe, Joseph Raveness, Samrachana Adhikari, et al. at the JAMA Network (December 2020)

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Young, attractive women are ‘more likely to be believed’ when making accusations of sexual harassment, study finds 

Women who are both young and attractive are more likely to be believed when making accusations of sexual assault, a new study has found. The perception among the general public, researchers said, is that women who are perceived to be young, "conventionally attractive" and feminine are more likely to be harassed. The research revealed that women who do not fit this prototype may face greater hurdles when trying to convince an employer or a court that they have been harassed. These women are also more likely to be perceived as less credible and less harmed by harassment.

Citing: Narrow Prototypes and Neglected Victims: Understanding Perceptions of Sexual Harassment by Jin X. Goh, Bryn Bandt-Law, Nathan N. Cheek, Stacey Sinclair, and Cheryl R. Kaiser at the American Psychological Association (January 2021)

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Study: Women, minorities make small gains in FBS leadership

A diversity study finds increasing numbers of women and people of color in leadership positions at the Football Bowl Subdivision level of college athletics for 2020, though not enough to overcome a significant “underrepresentation.” Wednesday’s report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) issued slightly improved grades of a B- for racial hiring and a D-plus overall compared to the 2019 edition, which had issued a C for racial hiring and a D overall. The gender-hiring grade in both reports was an F. The study examined positions at 130 FBS-level schools such as university presidents or chancellors, athletics directors, faculty athletics directors and conference commissioners. It relied on data as recent as November and submitted by the NCAA.

Citing: The 2020 DI FBS Leadership College Racial and Gender Report Card: The Lack of Diversity within Collegiate Athletic Leadership Continues by Richard E. Lapchick at The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES; January 6, 2021)

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J.P. Morgan study analyzes impact of race and gender on women’s investment decisions 

The J.P. Morgan Wealth Management Women and Investing study reviewed the investing habits of affluent women in 2020 and took a deeper look to examine the factors that help Black and Latinx women build lasting wealth. Although the majority of all women surveyed said the pandemic had a negative impact on their investments, affluent Black and Latinx women were more likely than affluent white women to feel optimistic about their financial goals over the next 12 months. Nearly one in five affluent Black or Latinx women found opportunities to capitalize on market volatilities created by the pandemic. They also were more likely to rely on themselves, doing their own market research using digital tools.

Citing: Women and Investing Study: Black and Latinx women more likely to take advantage of market moves in 2020 by J.P. Morgan (December 9, 2020)

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Report: Gender pay gap narrows in MT, but still wide

Montana women earn only 73.2 cents for every dollar that Montana men make, but it's still an improvement over the 68.4 cents they were earning in 2013. That's according to the 2020 Final Report of the Montana Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force, a group of economists, lawmakers, government officials, business leaders and others who've been raising awareness about the gender pay gap since Governor Steve Bullock convened them in 2013. Gender bias plays a role in each of these explanatory factors.

Citing: Equal Pay for Equal Work: Montana Task Force by the Equal Pay for Equal Work Task Force (December 2020)

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New Research Reports

Centering the Student Voice: Community Colleges and Sexual and Reproductive Health Access in Texas and Mississippi

IWPR | Anna Bernstein and Lindsey Reichlin Cruse | January 12, 2021

Building on the Institute for Women’s Policy Research’s (IWPR) research on the link between sexual and reproductive health care access and student success, and its report describing promising practices to support students’ sexual and reproductive health needs, this report adds a key element to this body of work: the student perspective. This report describes original research undertaken to better understand community college students’ experiences accessing sexual and reproductive health services. It shares an overview of findings from a survey of over 500 community college students in Texas and Mississippi and a series of in-depth student interviews, highlighting noteworthy themes around access to care and students’ thoughts on what they want from their community colleges with regard to their sexual and reproductive health needs.

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The State of Online Harassment

Pew Research Center | Emily A. Vogels | January 13, 2021

A Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults in September finds that 41% of Americans have personally experienced some form of online harassment in at least one of the six key ways that were measured. And while the overall prevalence of this type of abuse is the same as it was in 2017, there is evidence that online harassment has intensified since then. Growing shares of Americans report experiencing more severe forms of harassment, which encompasses physical threats, stalking, sexual harassment and sustained harassment. Some 15% experienced such problems in 2014 and a slightly larger share (18%) said the same in 2017. That group has risen to 25% today. Additionally, those who have been the target of online abuse are more likely today than in 2017 to report that their most recent experience involved more varied types and more severe forms of online abuse.

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How social networks impact economic mobility in Racine, WI, San Francisco, CA, and Washington, DC

Brookings Institution | Camille Busette, Jill Simmerman Lawrence, Richard V. Reeves, and Sarah Nzau | January 2021

This research aims to understand and compare the social networks of groups of diverse individuals in three U.S. cities (Racine, WI; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, DC) relative to job, stable housing, and educational opportunities. The research analyzed over 30,000 interpersonal network connections across all three cities, drawing on rich data from 254 interview participants, and comparing social networks by demographic group, especially among race, income, and gender. Initial findings determined that race and gender were the most important explanatory characteristics in Racine and Washington, and that race and individual income (either below $50,000 or $50,000 and above, annually) were most important in San Francisco.

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Competing in the Next Economy: The New Age of Innovation

The Council on Competitiveness | December 2020

Competing in the Next Economy is a roadmap for policymakers to follow. It marks a path to innovation leadership, growth, speed and inclusivity. The roadmap acknowledges key truths: other nations are replicating structural advantages that have historically made the United States the center of global innovation; nations are developing their own innovation ecosystems; innovation is becoming more interconnected and fast-pasted; new research and business models are emerging, and not every American has been brought into the country’s innovation-based economy. This report recognizes that innovation is what will grow the U.S. economy. The new age of innovation called for in this report will be achieved when jobs are being created, wages are rising, products are being manufacturing sustainably and diversity describes those engaged in the innovation ecosystem, not those left out.

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Employment recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | Elizabeth Weber Handwerker, Peter B. Meyer, Joseph Piacentini, Michael Schultz, and Leo Sveikauskas | December 2020

This article reviews recent economic research on pandemic-related U.S. job loss to understand prospects for employment recovery. At the beginning of this recession, unlike earlier recessions, a large majority of unemployed workers expected to be recalled to their jobs. Such recalls powered a rapid but partial recovery from May through the summer. However, the recovery has slowed, and many temporary layoffs have become permanent. As the pandemic has continued, employment trends between workers and their employers suggest future employment recovery might be slow. Additionally, as of December 2020, as vaccines become widely available, consumer demand may rebound in many hard-hit industries, such as restaurants, trade, and transportation. However, the research that we have summarized above concludes that if there are lasting impacts of the pandemic, such as a permanent increase in telework, there will not be a full rebound of consumer demand for affected consumer services, such as restaurants located in business districts.

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Gender Differences in Negotiation and Policy for Improvement

NBER | Maria Recalde and Lise Vesterlund | December 2020

This paper reviews the evidence on the many initiatives that have been put in place to reduce the effect of gender differences in negotiation. Categorizing these as either ‘fix-the-women’ or ‘fix-the-institutions’ initiatives we find serious challenges to the former. Women do not appear to be broken and encouraging them to negotiate more and differently often backfires. The evidence suggests that ‘fix-the-institution’ initiatives are more effective in reducing gender differences in outcomes. Concerns of adverse effects of banning negotiations or salary history requests have not materialized, and preliminary evidence points to reductions in the gender differences in negotiation outcomes. The strongest evidence on effectiveness in narrowing gender disparities is found for policies that increase transparency.

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