ABSTRACT
To determine the relative influence of individual characteristics or personal background factors (demographic characteristics, academic credentials, and professional experience) on the upward mobility of qualified black employees, statistical analysis was applied. Two measures of corporate upward mobility were used in the study: average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in salaries and average rate of vertical promotion. These measures were predicted by the respondents’ personal background characteristics, and other factors such as company size and industry type of the three matched groups contrasted in the study-trained black managers, black managers, and white managers. Using two complementary statistical techniques of predicting the upward mobility measures, comparisons were made of the dependent and independent variables across the three study groups.
