Anonymous wrote:Agree that people who have grown up in poverty or lower / working class are more risk adverse and gravitate to rules.

I am a white person who grew up in a family that was the first to make it into the middle class and saw my parents and others behave like this as well.

So, to reframe this issue, I don't think it is a black or AA issue--of being attracted to stable, clearly defined jobs. It is a "making sure you stay out of poverty and in the middle class" issue.

A good friend of mine, who is white and also a membership coordinator for a non-profit trade group, has a similar socio-economic background. She also grew up with parents who did everything they could to propel themselves into the middle class.

There are lots of black employees in HR and non-profits and I assume they are doing what our white families are and were doing as well--trying to break into the world of white color professionals.

Heh. I can't figure out if this is a typo or not

Anonymous wrote: white color professionals.

LOL

Agree that people who have grown up in poverty or lower / working class are more risk adverse and gravitate to rules.

I am a white person who grew up in a family that was the first to make it into the middle class and saw my parents and others behave like this as well.

So, to reframe this issue, I don't think it is a black or AA issue--of being attracted to stable, clearly defined jobs. It is a "making sure you stay out of poverty and in the middle class" issue.

A good friend of mine, who is white and also a membership coordinator for a non-profit trade group, has a similar socio-economic background. She also grew up with parents who did everything they could to propel themselves into the middle class.

There are lots of black employees in HR and non-profits and I assume they are doing what our white families are and were doing as well--trying to break into the world of white color professionals.

I wonder if AAs are risk-averse and comfortable in highly rule-based jobs. HR is a not a creative or risky area; it's very rule-based in fact. I work in nonprofits and every member manager, membership coordinator, and membership desk person I have ever worked with is also AA. Again, highly rule-based, heavily routine based work. So I share OP's general question...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope I'm not burned for this, but I have wondered the same thing. I think AAs are culturally more likely to be "people persons" and outgoing people and that's what HR attracts. My Fed HR is 80% black.

That's a good point. There's always exceptions, but if some groups tend to be weaker on average in math, reading, analysis, leadership, sales...then going to HR is a good niche to fill. They are not going to get into engineering or management.

Shakes my head....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope I'm not burned for this, but I have wondered the same thing. I think AAs are culturally more likely to be "people persons" and outgoing people and that's what HR attracts. My Fed HR is 80% black.

That's a good point. There's always exceptions, but if some groups tend to be weaker on average in math, reading, analysis, leadership, sales...then going to HR is a good niche to fill. They are not going to get into engineering or management.

Repeat what you said and really listen to yourself.

Anonymous wrote:I hope I'm not burned for this, but I have wondered the same thing. I think AAs are culturally more likely to be "people persons" and outgoing people and that's what HR attracts. My Fed HR is 80% black.

That's a good point. There's always exceptions, but if some groups tend to be weaker on average in math, reading, analysis, leadership, sales...then going to HR is a good niche to fill. They are not going to get into engineering or management.

If recruiters, thought to do better job at attracting diverse job applicants.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sure is at my Federal agency and a few of my close friends agencies as well.

Not sure why, but maybe because the job doesn't require a degree? And it's more of an administrative job that doesn't require a specific skill set?

Many of the HR people at my org have graduate degrees

But that wasn't always the standard or usual. Many times the positions didn't require a college degree and where just a higher level admin position. So if someone came in out of high school and did well as an admin, they moved up and the HR was a place that offered such mobility.

I hope I'm not burned for this, but I have wondered the same thing. I think AAs are culturally more likely to be "people persons" and outgoing people and that's what HR attracts. My Fed HR is 80% black.

I know the HR departments of my current contractor, some in my federal agency and some that I know outside of work (that work for a different federal agency). In my experience, it is about 75% white women and frequently young white women. I worked for one company several years ago that was majority black women.

I think what happens is that the HR departments like to hire people like themselves. So HR departments with white women tend to hire more white women. HR departments with AA women tend to hire AA women. So you end up with an unbalanced mix.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In my federal agency it is predominately AA women. Some men.

Same at my private company.

Same at my non-profit company. Our "Chief People Officer" is an AA woman and maybe half the HR staff.

Anonymous wrote:In my federal agency it is predominately AA women. Some men.

Same at my private company.

Anonymous wrote:In my federal agency it is predominately AA women. Some men.

+1
My take is that, for people who want a very stable job but might not have had the opportunity to go to college or to go beyond college, Fed admin work is very attractive, and HR is a specialty that is better paid. In this area, where race and SES are highly correlated (see the recent discussions of schools...), people who fit this description (interested in finding steady work, might not have had the opportunity to attend college or beyond) are often AA women.

Anonymous wrote:It seems like there are so many people of color (esp AA) in HR, and at all levels- why do you think that is?

If you mean black, why do you say "of color" in the title? I clicked here to say that I've met very few Asians, Latinos, Native Americans in HR, and I'd love to see many more.