Onda Latina

The KUT Longhorn Radio Network Presents: Mexican American Experience Collection

Audio recordings including interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns in the series "The Mexican American Experience" and "A esta hora conversamos" from the Longhorn Radio Network, 1976-1982.

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PROGRAM INFO

Title:
Chicanas In The Labor Market
Program #
1978-41
Theme:
Society

Series:
Labor, Women's Issues
Host:
Armando Gutiérrez
Guest:
Gloria Gutiérrez
Date:
Sep 13, 1978

Chicanas in the Labor Market

Gloria Gutierrez, Special Assistant to the Director of the Women’s Bureau within the department of Labor, discusses the current state of women and minorities in the workforce. Gutierrez explains the history of the bureau and its mandate to develop and implement policies on behalf of women workers. Gutierrez says that although the participation of women in the labor force has increased substantially, their actual earnings have decreased. Most jobs available to women offer low pay, minimal status, and low upward mobility, such as those in the service industry. Gutierrez explains that Chicanas are doubly discriminated against for being non-white women. Gutierrez then discusses some of the effects of the recent economic downturn and explains that Chicanas and women have higher unemployment rates than white males.

Gutierrez argues that schools and society have pigeonholed women into certain jobs, which she calls “ghettoized positions,” with little opportunity for advancement. Moreover, the labor department categorized these jobs with lower codes than jobs typically associated with men and consequently have lower pay. She explains that these jobs typically lack unions and have surplus of potential employees, thus further driving down wages.

She then describes some of the problems posed by the right ward political shift of the country and describes the programs the Women’s Bureau has implemented to help propel women out of poverty and into higher paying jobs.

KEYWORDS

Affirmative Action
Alexis Herman
Bakke v. California
Carter Administration
Census
Chicanas in the workforce
Department of Labor
Department of Labor Statistics
Discrimination
Double Discrimination
Economy
Employment
Gender Disparities
Income
Income Inequality
Job Classification
Labor Force
Labor market participation
Latinos
Minimum wage
Minorities in American Society
Proposition 13
San Antonio, Texas
Segmented labor markets
Service Industry
Unemployment Rates
Unionization
Upward mobility
Welfare
Women in the Workforce
Women’s Bureau
 

Center for Mexican American Studies | Department of History | The Benson Latin American Collection

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