Volume 7, Number 1 (Winter) 1972
Gwartney, James D. 1972. "Discrimination, Achievement, and Payoffs of a College Degree." Journal of Human Resources 7(1):60-70.
Both laymen and scholars have often argued that even well qualified blacks will be relegated to low skill, menial jobs because employment discrimination is most intense at the top of the job hierarchy. This article presents both theoretical and empirical data that are inconsistent with this theory of the pattern of employment discrimination. After adjustment for achievement, the nonwhite/white earnings ratio was found to be greater for college graduates than for any other educational grouping. This was true for all sex, region, and age groupings.
The author is Assistant Professor of Economics at the Florida State University. The author wishes to thank Charles Rockwood and a referee for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
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