What Do You Do When The Law Doesn’t Work? Adult Educators ’ Role In Fighting Workplace Discrimination

An analysis of research suggests that ethnic/racial group members lack informal access to developmental opportunities in the workplace. Legal scholars critique Title VII law as ineffective in current organizations. Research shows the work of adult educators is critical in fighting discrimination in the absence of effective legal protection. Purpose An earlier analysis of existing research strongly supported the assertion that institutional racism in the private sector impedes race/ethnic group member access to workplace learning and career development opportunities and as a result, to career and pay advancement (Ross-Gordon et al., 2005). In this paper, we extend this earlier analysis of the research literature to (1) review race/ethnicity and workplace learning beyond the private sector to employment in education, the public and private sectors, and community work organizations; (2) look at shifts in the nature of workforce discrimination from individual and institutional to group and network level discrimination; (3) examine legal scholars ’ analyses of the current effectiveness of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act; and (4) identify strategies adult educators can use to fight new forms of workplace discrimination. Research Methods Our analysis of the research on race/ethnicity and access to workplace learning, career development opportunities, and advancement was based on a literature review of 48 data-based research articles and 3 literature reviews focused on corporations (23), pre-K-12 schools (12), higher education (14), public administration (1), and community organizations (1). Databases