Workplace inequality remains commonplace.

• Position: Your Life - Brief Article

Black men with the same skills as white males are half as likely to rise from supervisor to manager and black women are a third as likely to do so, according to a study by sociologist James Elliott of Tulane University, New Orleans, La., and professor Ryan A. Smith of City University of New York.

Elliott and Smith compiled statistics from two-hour interviews with 3,480 male and female workers from across the country. They divided respondents into three categories: laborers with no power; supervisors with the power only to supervise; and managers with the power to hire, fire, and set pay. From their statistics, the researchers determined that discrimination has common patterns throughout American...