Occupational Dissimilarity between the American Indian/Alaska Native Workforce and White Workforce in the...

Who has which job? When this answer differs by race group or sex, inefficiencies such as labor market discrimination or suboptimal investment in education may be impeding productivity and sustaining inequities. We use US census data to analyze the occupational structure of American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) workers, relative to non-Hispanic White workers. AIAN workers (especially men and single-race AIAN workers) are generally overrepresented in low-skilled occupations and underrepresented in high-skilled occupations, relative to White workers. AIAN occupational dissimilarity does not appear to have declined substantially since 1980. Sex-specific multivariate analyses do not remove the significant inequalities in observed occupational outcomes.