Racial Gap Research Articles

Analyzing the Correlation Between Racial Identity and Income

This research investigates the correlation between racial identity and income, employing a variety of research methods, including data collection, case study analysis, and regression analysis, with the latter being the central focus. The findings reveal that several factors contribute to the racial income gap: education accounts for -2.06%, age for 2.03%, parental education for 8.38%, gender for 14.88%, occupation for 6.07%, industry for 13.20%, and location for 5.98%. Notably, a significant 51.51% of the income disparity remains unexplained, potentially due to other undetected factors or underlying racial discrimination. These insights provide corporations, organizations, and governments with a detailed understanding of the current racial inequalities prevalent in society. Moreover, by identifying the specific contributors to income disparities, this research equips policymakers and social leaders with the tools to address and mitigate these inequities. The unexplained portion of the gap highlights the need for further exploration and deeper analysis to uncover hidden biases or systemic issues contributing to this persistent inequality. Ultimately, the results of this study are crucial in guiding efforts towards creating a more equitable society, where income is less influenced by race and more by individual merit and opportunities.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Outcomes and Treatment of Patients Admitted with Heart Failure: A Nationwide Analysis

Background/Objectives: Heart failure is the leading cause of hospital admission and mortality. Racial disparities have been demonstrated in various cardiovascular disorders; however, the data for in-hospital outcomes, complications, and procedural rates are limited. Methods: Utilizing the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database, this retrospective cohort study included adult patients admitted with a principal diagnosis of heart failure. Coding for race and ethnicity in the NIS combines self-reported race and ethnicity provided by the data source into 1 data element (“RACE”). We compared the outcomes between various racial groups, focusing on mortality, the length of stay (LOS), hospital charges, and complications. Differences in the utilization of advanced therapies, including implantable cardiac defibrillators, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT), ventricular assist devices (VADs), and heart transplant, were also analyzed. Results: Out of 1,107,860 patients hospitalized with heart failure, 715,345 (64.57%) patients were White, 244,394 (22.06%) patients were Black, and 97,063 (8.31%) patients were Hispanic. Compared to White people, the odds of in-hospital mortality were lower among Black (aOR 0.74; 95% CI 0.68–0.81; p < 0.001) and Hispanic (aOR 0.78; 95% CI 0.69–0.88; p < 0.001) people. Complication rates including cardiogenic shock were found to be significantly lower in Black people (aOR 0.86; 95% CI 0.77–0.96; p < 0.001) and in Hispanic (aOR 0.72; 95% CI 0.63–0.81; p < 0.001) people. The rates of acute respiratory failure were also lower in Black (aOR 0.72; 95% CI 0.69–0.74; p < 0.001) and Hispanic (aOR 0.77; 95% CI 0.73–0.81; p < 0.001) people as opposed to White people. However, Black people were found to have higher rates of acute kidney injury (aOR 1.11; 95% CI 1.07–1.14; p < 0.001) and cardiac arrest (aOR 1.17; 95% CI 1.03–1.34; p = 0.02) compared to White people. Black people were less likely to receive advanced interventions, including cardiac resynchronization therapy (aOR 0.71; 95% CI 0.60–0.83; p < 0001), a ventricular assist device (aOR 0.45; 95% CI 0.34–0.59; p < 0.001), and heart transplants (aOR 0.57; 95% CI 0.42–0.77; p < 0.001), than White people. Hispanic people were found to have lower rates of ventricular assist device (aOR 0.49; 95% CI 0.33–0.72; p < 0.001) use than White people. Conclusions: These findings highlight significant racial disparities in mortality, secondary outcomes, and advanced therapy utilization in heart failure admissions. Further research is needed to identify the root factors for these disparities in order to guide targeted interventions to reduce this racial gap.

Critical Connectors: Libraries Developing Community-Engaged Research Partnerships

Academic libraries can serve as critical campus and community connectors, developing sustainable collaborative models and lasting partnerships by responding to community information needs with library and university resources. Librarians can help break down silos and address systemic injustice in local communities through innovative outreach, community engagement, and curricular integration of critical information literacy. In this case study, a Business & Entrepreneurship Librarian and an Assistant Professor of Business Communication will detail a class project they developed in partnership with a local entrepreneur to support the success of a local Black-owned business, help address the racial wealth gap, and provide a valuable engaged learning experience for undergraduate students.

State-Level Structural Racism and Children's Dental Care Access and Oral Health.

Black children in the United States have lower rates of dental visits and higher rates of poor oral health. However, few studies have examined the role of structural racism as a contributor to racial gaps in children's oral health. This study assessed associations between state-level structural racism and oral health outcomes of children and the related Black-White disparities. This repeated cross-sectional observational study examined children aged 1 to 17 y in the 2016 to 2021 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH). Three outcomes were examined: utilization (dentist visit in past 12 mo), any oral health problem (difficulty in past 12 mo with bleeding gums, cavities, or toothaches), and oral health (teeth in excellent or very good condition). A state-level index was constructed to measure Black-White structural racism composed of 5 dimensions (judicial, educational, economic, political, and neighborhood segregation) and linked to the NSCH. Estimated population-weighted logit regression models were used to assess associations between the outcomes and race and structural racism, adjusting for demographics and socioeconomic status. The dataset consisted of 98,423 Black (11%) or White (88%) children. Black children had relatively worse outcomes than White children did, with the largest difference observed for the children having teeth in excellent or very good condition (73% vs. 83%). State-level structural racism was not statistically significantly associated with a child receiving dental care, having any oral health problem, or having teeth in excellent or very good condition. US Black-White disparities in these outcomes were unchanged after adjustment for state-level structural racism. Expanded efforts are needed to address US Black-White disparities in child oral health outcomes. State-level structural racism was not associated with these outcomes. Future research should explore whether findings change when examining these associations at a different geographic level and whether indices of structural racism should explicitly include items specific to health care access and child-specific institutional domains. Black children in this US study had relatively worse oral health and were less likely to have a dental visit than White children were. Structural racism did not explain these disparities, which suggests the need for further research to study mechanisms driving these disparities and how to address them. Policy makers should consider policies that expand where care is delivered, who delivers care, and increase dentists' Medicaid participation, strategies identified previously for reducing disparities.

Barriers to social mobility for ethnic minorities: a mixed method research of the prospects of Israeli Arabs

ABSTRACT Research has documented persistent, albeit declining, ethnic and racial gaps in access to higher education and differences in social mobility patterns. Still, empirical documentation of the mechanisms underlying these disadvantages is limited. We address this lacuna by examining the mechanisms that hinder social mobility among Arab citizens in Israel, drawing on a concurrent mixed-methods design. We document evidence related to four prominent theories explaining the barriers to and opportunities for social mobility that ethno-religious minorities face: human capital, social capital, differential access to higher education, and discrimination. We draw on data from the Israel Income Study (IIS) and multilevel logistic models for the quantitative part of the study, and in-depth interviews of 30 Israeli Arabs for the qualitative part. Our findings emphasize that human capital is deeply intertwined with social capital in influencing employment outcomes. They highlight the importance of social capital and the educational system in shaping mobility prospects.

Job Market Signaling through Occupational Licensing

Abstract Among men, the Black-white wage gap is as large today as it was in 1950. We test whether this gap is due to asymmetric information using newly collected data on occupational licensing laws that ban workers with criminal records. We find evidence supporting this hypothesis. The licensing premiums for Black men are largest in licensed occupations that restrict felons, particularly in states with banthe-box laws and at small businesses. In these contexts where a worker’s criminal history is difficult to infer, we find that occupational licensing reduces asymmetric information and reduces the racial wage gap.

Maternal Wealth Implications of Child Incarceration: Examining the Upstream Consequences of Children's Incarceration for Women's Assets, Homeownership, and Home Equity

Qualitative research has documented mothers’ critical role in supporting adult children during and after incarceration. Yet, the implications of incarceration for mothers have been relatively unexplored. Wealth research has also largely overlooked the influence of adult children on parental wealth. Using linked mother–child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Child and Young Adult study, we investigate whether a child's incarceration influences mothers’ wealth and whether accounting for child incarceration history helps explain the racial wealth gap. We use an event-study analysis and fixed-effects models to assess the evidence that children's incarceration affects three forms of wealth: financial assets, homeownership, and home equity. We find significant relationships between child incarceration and maternal wealth, but the importance of current versus prior child incarceration depends on the type of wealth considered. We also find that child incarceration is much more detrimental in dollar terms for White women than for Black or Hispanic women, but the financial asset penalty associated with child incarceration is larger in percentage terms for Black women than for White women.

Is Separate Still Unequal? New Evidence on School Segregation and Racial Academic Achievement Gaps

U.S. public schools are racially and economically segregated. Prior research shows that the desegregation of Southern schools beginning in the 1960s led to significant benefits for Black students. Less clear, however, is whether segregation today has the same harmful effects as it did 50 years ago and through what mechanisms segregation continues to affect achievement. We estimate the effects of current-day school segregation on racial achievement gaps using 11 years of data from all U.S. public school districts. We find that racial segregation is strongly associated with the magnitude of achievement gaps in 3rd grade and the rate at which gaps grow from 3rd to 8th grade. The association of racial segregation with achievement-gap growth is completely accounted for by racial differences in school poverty. Thus, racial segregation is harmful because it concentrates minority students in high-poverty schools, which are, on average, less effective than lower-poverty schools. Exploratory analyses show that segregation-related between-school differences in teacher characteristics are associated with unequal learning rates and account for roughly 20 percent of the effect of Black–White racial differences in exposure to poverty. Further research is needed to identify mechanisms linking school segregation to achievement-gap growth.

Beyond Tuskegee: A contemporary qualitative assessment of barriers to research participation among Black women.

Health care inequities have partially contributed to the existing racial gaps in health. Despite having lower incidence rates of breast cancer, Black women have a 41% higher mortality rate than White women. Black individuals remain underrepresented in research. Diversity in research is paramount to the improvement of clinical care practices and subgroup-specific guidelines. Black women from various community venues across geographic regions of the United States were invited via email, online fliers, social media platforms, and word of mouth to participate in focus groups. Six online focus groups of six to 10 Black women aged 25-65 years (N=38) with and without a history of cancer were conducted with an in-depth semistructured discussion guide. Most participants were college educated (32 of 38; 84.2%), aged 50 years or older (31 of 38; 81.6%), and had an annual income of $50,000 or more (26 of 38; 68.4%). Several barriers to research participation were identified. They included a lack of empathy and respect in health care settings, apprehension regarding the sharing of personal information, mistrust of medical research, and logistical/technical barriers. Alternatively, building individual and community trust and communicating the value of conducting research beneficial to the Black community were viewed as facilitators to research participation. Successful engagement of Black women in research requires the acknowledgment and consideration of the numerous barriers that affect their ability to participate. Black women are more inclined to participate in research when the research team is knowledgeable, has experience within their communities, and engages trusted community partners. Additionally, the research must be meaningful and impactful to future generations of Black women.

Abstract 4120469: Racial and ethnic disparities in catheter based interventions vs. open heart surgery in congenital heart disease

Introduction: Transcatheter cardiac interventions have emerged as a viable alternative to open heart surgery for specific congenital heart disease lesions. There is literature to support racial and ethnic disparities in medicine, indicating that patients from racially and ethnically marginalized populations are less likely to receive advanced less invasive procedures. This study seeks to delve into the existence of such inequities between transcatheter and surgical interventions, shedding light on potential inequalities in access and outcomes. Methods: We analyzed California and Florida's State Inpatient and Ambulatory Surgery Databases from 2005 to 2017 to study patients under 18 admitted with diagnosis of atrial septal defect, pulmonary stenosis, aortic stenosis, and ventricular septal defects. Multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for patient characteristics, assessed race and ethnicity's influence on procedure type and in-hospital mortality. We also used log-transformed linear regression to examine associations with length of stay, hospitalization cost, and cost per day. Results: We identified 13,771 records who had open surgeries, and 2,045 records who had CBI. Compared to non-Hispanic White patients, Black patients were significantly more likely to undergo open surgical procedures (adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] 1.49, p < .001). Additionally, Black, Hispanic, and other race patients had higher risks of in-hospital death (aOR 1.92, p = 0.016 for Black; aOR 1.93, p < 0.01 for Hispanic; aOR 2.37, p < 0.01 for other races). Black and Hispanic patients also experienced longer lengths of stay (Adjusted Means Ratio [aMR] 1.34, p < 0.01 for Black; aMR 1.16, p < 0.01 for Hispanic), and higher costs (aMR 1.12, p = .01 for Black; aMR 1.11, p = .01 for Hispanic), but Black patients had a lower cost per day (aMR 0.96, p = .02). Conclusion: Racial and ethnic gaps persist in pediatric cardiac care, with Black patients facing reduced access to less invasive procedures, higher mortality rates, longer hospital stays, and increased costs compared to non-Hispanic whites. However, the higher costs are likely attributed to longer hospital stays rather than expensive interventions. It is imperative to tackle these disparities to prioritize patient-centered care and streamline resource allocation in healthcare.

Does corruption discriminate? Racial opportunity gap in the United States

AbstractIn this study, we investigate the effects of corruption on the inequality of opportunity between Blacks and Whites, which is the main cause of economic inequality between these two racial groups. To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the relationship between the two. Using data from U.S. counties we find that corruption, in fact, is associated with an increase in opportunity gap between Blacks and Whites and the effects of corruption are stronger in more segregated counties.

Who wins when? Election timing and descriptive representation

AbstractWe examine how the timing of local elections affects the success of minority candidates, who remain woefully underrepresented in public office. We build on research showing that concurrent elections narrow racial gaps in voter turnout and leverage changes in the timing of local elections in California. Our analysis shows that filling local offices in November of even years increases minority officeholding, at least for some groups. The results demonstrate how, when, and for whom election timing matters. Latinos gain most, potentially at the expense of White and, to a lesser degree, Black representation. An investigation of potential mechanisms suggests that these effects depend on group population size and the magnitude of the turnout changes. An increase in the number of co‐ethnic candidates running also appears to contribute to the representational benefits of on‐cycle elections. Finally, the effects are most pronounced during presidential elections, when turnout improvements are largest.

Is there really an inflation tax? Not for the middle class

One hallmark of U.S. monetary policy since the early 1980s has been moderation in inflation (at least, until recently). How has this affected household well-being? The paper first develops a new model to address this issue. The inflation tax on income is defined as the difference between the nominal and real growth in income. This term is always negative (as long as inflation is positive). The inflation gain on household wealth is the revaluation resulting from asset price changes directly linked to inflation. This term can be positive or negative. The net inflation gain is the difference between the two, which can also be positive or negative. The empirical analysis covers years 1983 to 2019 on the basis of the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) and historical inflation rates. It also looks at the sensitivity of the results to alternative inflation rates, and considers the effects of inflation on real wealth growth, wealth inequality, and the racial wealth gap. The results show that inflation boosted the real income of the middle wealth quintile by an incredible two thirds. In contrast, the bottom two wealth quintiles got lashed by inflation, losing almost half of their real income. Inflation also boosted mean and especially median real wealth growth, reduced wealth inequality, and lowered the racial and ethnic wealth gap. Both the income and wealth results are magnified at higher (simulated) rates of inflation.

Black-White Gap Across Levels of Educational Childhood Opportunities: Findings from the ABCD Study.

This study examines racial disparities in educational outcomes-including reading proficiency, grade point average (GPA), school discrimination, and school disciplinary actions-across regions with different levels of educational childhood opportunity index (COI). Our aim is to explore how these racial gaps between Black and White students vary in areas with differing educational opportunities. We hypothesize that higher COI is associated with smaller academic achievement gaps but may also correspond with greater racial bias in unfair school treatment. Data were drawn from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, which provides comprehensive measures of educational outcomes, cognitive performance, and COI. National COI rankings were used to classify regions into five categories: very high, high, average, low, and very low educational opportunity. We analyzed racial gaps in reading proficiency, and experiences of discrimination and suspension across these COI categories. Multi-group Structural Equation Models (SEM) were used to assess how the relationship between race and educational outcomes varies across COI levels. Our findings confirmed that Black-White gaps in reading proficiency and cognitive test performance (Flanker task) were less pronounced in regions with higher COI. However, racial disparities in school disciplinary actions and experiences of discrimination were more pronounced in higher-opportunity areas. Specifically, the effect of Black race was stronger in regions with the highest COI, where Black students experienced a disproportionately higher rate of unfair school treatment, including both school discrimination and suspensions, compared to their White peers. This exploratory study supports that while higher educational opportunities are associated with smaller academic achievement gaps between Black and White students, they might be linked to increased racial bias in school disciplinary actions and discriminatory treatment. These findings underscore the complexity of educational equity, suggesting that improving access to quality education alone is insufficient to eliminate racial disparities in school experiences. Addressing school-based bias and discrimination must accompany efforts to enhance educational opportunities.

Black Americans’ Landholdings and Economic Mobility after Emancipation: Evidence from the Census of Agriculture and Linked Records

Large and persistent racial disparities in land-based wealth were an important legacy of the Reconstruction era. To assess how these disparities were transmitted intergenerationally, we build a dataset to observe Black households’ landholdings in 1880 alongside a sample of White households. We then link sons from all households to the 1900 census records to observe their economic and human capital outcomes. We show that Black landowners, relative to laborers, transmitted substantial intergenerational advantages to their sons, particularly in literacy and homeownership. However, such advantages were small relative to the racial gaps in measures of economic status.

Evaluation of guideline recommended treatment utilization among Black and White men with metastatic prostate cancer.

103 Background: Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among men with a disproportionate burden on Black men. 1 Black men are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer compared to White counterparts. 2 Racial disparities in care delivery for early-stage disease are well documented and may contribute to disparate outcomes, 3–6 but less is known about racial gaps in advanced prostate cancer care, a stage where effective therapies can prolong life for years. 7 We sought to evaluate if treatment disparities were evident among Black and White men with metastatic prostate cancer. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients with metastatic prostate cancer receiving treatment at a large public tertiary care health system between 2015 and 2020. Demographic, clinical, treatment, and medication prescribing data were extracted from the electronic health record. We excluded patients without ICD codes indicating metastatic disease, those without any documented medication data in our health system, and those who did not identify as Black or White race. We estimated the prevalence ratio (PR) of being prescribed each of the recommended treatment options for metastatic prostate cancer per National Comprehensive Care Network guidelines, including androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), novel anti-androgens, chemotherapy, and bone protection comparing Black men to White men using log-binomial regression. Results: We identified 1,594 patients with metastatic prostate cancer; 485 (30%) were Black. Black patients were younger and had higher Charlson scores compared to White men. Both groups were highly insured, Medicaid was more common for Black men (7.2% vs 2.2%). Prescribing of systemic treatments was similar by race (Table). Combination ADT and novel antiandrogen prescribing was also similar by race (PR 1.04 95% CI:(0.91 - 1.17), p=0.6). About 30% of both Black and White patients interacted with our Patient Navigation team, a group of oncology nurses focused on ensuring patients receive recommended care. Conclusions: In a large public tertiary care health system, we did not observe racial disparities in receipt of guideline recommended therapies for metastatic prostate cancer. High rates of insurance, a robust patient navigation program, and a well-developed pharmacy assistance program may have helped mitigate racial disparities in care. Ongoing analyses are evaluating prescribing patterns among patients with de novo metastatic disease. Future studies should explore delivery of prostate cancer therapies across health systems and the influence of patient navigation and pharmacy assistance programs on medication receipt. Prevalence ratios of treatment by race. Medication PR (95% CI) for Black v White men p-value ADT 1.04 (0.98-1.11) 0.19 Novel Antiandrogen 1.05 (0.95-1.16) 0.31 Bone protection 0.89 (0.76-1.04) 0.13 Chemotherapy 1.09 (0.85-1.39) 0.51

Toward a continuous improvement for justice

In recent years, improvement researchers have sought to foreground equity in continuous improvement (CI) in efforts to better advance the position of Black, Brown, and other marginalized students in educational settings using CI. While we view these efforts as noble and necessary, we argue in this paper that CI has largely centered equity and pushed justice to the periphery. In particular, we argue that the field of CI in education has focused squarely on equity—what we define as reducing racial and other gaps in dominant outcomes. In so doing, CI has deprioritized justice, which we define as improving outcomes that center on the comfort, agency, and dignity of all students, but minoritized students (i.e., Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, disabled, multilingual youth, and working-class) in particular. In so doing, CI efforts risk upholding dominant schooling outcomes and accompanying practices that sort students into unequal categories, limiting the capability of minoritized students to reach their full potential, erasing and demeaning students' cultural wealth, knowledge, and identities, and restricting their access to rich learning opportunities. We argue for a continuous improvement for justice that: (a) confronts dominant outcomes rather than uncritically prioritizing them; and (b) aims to use its tools to create systems that prioritize outcomes that grant comfort, agency, and dignity to minoritized students and communities.

Gaps in Achievement or Opportunity? How Achievement Gap Discourse Affects Teachers’ Beliefs and Priorities

Education scholars argue that the term “achievement gap” promotes deficit orientations toward certain students of color, focuses the field on individualistic rather than structural sources of inequality, and narrows viable policy solutions for equity concerns. Using a randomized survey, I examine whether the term “racial opportunity gap” mitigates critiques of the achievement gap term. I find that teachers responding to this language less strongly attributed the gap to individual characteristics—student motivation, student effort, and parenting—and more strongly prioritized incorporating students’ racial/ethnic and cultural identities into instruction to address the gap than teachers responding to “racial achievement gap” language.

Physician–patient racial concordance and newborn mortality

The racial gap in infant mortality is a pressing public-health concern, and [B. N. Greenwood et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 117, 21194-21200 (2020), 10.1073/pnas.1913405117] suggest that Black newborns are more likely to survive if cared for by Black physicians after birth, even in models that control for numerous variables, including hospital and physician fixed effects, and the 65 most common comorbidities affecting newborns (as described by International Classification of Disease codes). We acquired the data used in the study, covering Florida hospital discharges from 1992 through the third quarter of 2015, to replicate and extend the analysis. We find that the magnitude of the concordance effect is substantially reduced after controlling for diagnoses indicating very low birth weight (<1,500 g), which are a strong predictor of neonatal mortality but not among the 65 most common comorbidities. In fact, the estimated effect is near zero and statistically insignificant in the expanded specifications that control for very low birth weight and include hospital and physician fixed effects.

Racial Wealth Gains and Gaps: Ten Economic Facts About the Disparities

Racial Wealth Gains and Gaps: Ten Economic Facts About the Disparities