They"re often taken advantage of by being offered lower wages because it's harder for them to find jobs (Tomaskovic-Devey, p.2).
A major issue pertaining to this inequality is job stereotyping. Some jobs are viewed as those that should be done by a certain race and gender. Usually the jobs that are stereotyped are those that require few skills and pay minimum wage. For example, the greatest occupation opportunity for Hispanic women is that of hotel cleaning. Because this role has been stereotyped as one being done by a non-English speaking minority who will work for the least amount of money, Hispanic women can usually find work there. It also goes the other way in that higher-ranking jobs are stereotyped as ones being done by white, preferably male, employees.
Employers are much more likely to turn a minority woman down for a job that requires learning skills. They believe that these women aren't able to learn so they direct them towards jobs that take less knowledge. This is why minority women are most often found in low-paying jobs such as gas station attendants. The negative effect of this assumption is that fewer minority women learn skills necessary to move up on the business ladder; it is important to note that this skills gap that is created is on no part the fault of minority women. Along these same lines, most jobs filled by minority women are ones that lead nowhere. They"re often jobs that don't have opportunities for promotions, raises, etc. There is only a short ladder to move up, if a ladder exists at all (Tomaskovic-Devey, pp.2-3).
There are the rare few minority women who actually own their own businesses. They choose ignore stereotypes given by employers and become their own boss. There are now over 1.2 million minority women-owned businesses in America. Thirty-nine percent of them are owned by Hispanics, thirty percent by African-Americans, thirty percent by Asians, and about one percent by Native Americans.
