NALP Bulletin+
January 2023
There have been long-standing disparities in employment outcomes for graduates of color as compared to white graduates and new data from NALP's Class of 2021 Employment Report and Salary Survey show that while some of these differences have narrowed over the past seven years, large gaps remain. Further, progress has not been universal for all demographics. Although gaps have lessened for Asian, Black, Latinx, and multiracial graduates, they have grown for Native American or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander graduates.
Chart 1 displays differences in employment rates by race/ethnicity (in percentage points) as compared to all graduates from 2015-2021. A negative number indicates a lower percentage of employed graduates compared to graduates overall, and a positive number indicates a higher percentage of employed graduates compared to the class overall. From 2015-2019, Black graduates experienced the largest differential in employment rates as compared to all graduates; however, for the past two years Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander graduates have experienced the largest gap. Since 2015, employment rate gaps have narrowed by approximately 3 percentage points for Asian and Black graduates, and by 2 percentage points for Latinx graduates. During the same period, the gap for multiracial graduates disappeared.
The number of Native American or Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander graduates in each class year is relatively small as seen in Table 1; therefore, employment rates may be more subject to fluctuation from year to year. For both groups, differences in employment rates have varied and include years of both positive and negative differentials as compared to all graduates; however, since 2019 there has been a 3-point to 5-point gap for Native American and Alaska Native graduates and since 2020 there has been a 7-point to 11-point gap for Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander graduates. In contrast, employment rate differentials for white graduates have been fairly stable, ranging from 1-2 percentage points higher than the class overall since 2015.
Due to the higher employment rate for white graduates, disparities in employment rates are further magnified when using white graduates as the comparator group but follow the same general patterns. Gaps between Black or African American and white graduates have narrowed somewhat from about 8 percentage points in 2015 to 4.5 points in 2021. In 2021, the largest gap (12 percentage points) existed between Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and white graduates. Differentials in employment rates for other racial groups as compared to white graduates ranged from about 0.5 to 4.5 percentage points in 2021. (See Table 1.)
Chart 2 depicts differences by race/ethnicity in the percentage of graduates employed in bar passage required jobs as compared to all graduates from 2015-2021. Like the employment rate data, gaps have generally narrowed for most groups, except for Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander graduates — where differentials have actually grown in recent years. Over the past 2 years, Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander graduates have experienced the largest gaps — at approximately 18 points in 2020 and 20 points in 2021.
Some progress has been made. Black graduates have consistently experienced some of the largest gaps in the percentage of graduates employed in bar passage required jobs as compared to the class overall. However, this differential has declined by more than 5 percentage points since 2015 - dropping from 17.5 percentage points in 2015 to approximately 12 percentage points in 2021. While a gap existed for multiracial graduates from 2015-2017 and in the 2020 data, this gap has since disappeared. The differential for Latinx graduates has closed from a range of 3-4 percentage points to now just 1 point.
Except for 2019, the differential for employment in bar passage required jobs has stayed in the range of 2-4 points for Asian graduates. The percentage of white graduates employed in bar passage required jobs has consistently been about 3-4 percentage points higher compared to graduates overall during this period.
As with employment rates, the higher level of employment in bar passage required jobs for white graduates means that these disparities are further exacerbated when using white graduates as the comparator group, although the same overall trends remain. Gaps between Black graduates and white graduates have narrowed somewhat from about 21 percentage points in 2015 to 15 percentage points in 2021. As with the employment rates, the largest differential in 2021 existed between Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander and white graduates, at nearly 23 points. Differences in the percentage of employed graduates in bar passage required jobs for other racial groups as compared to white graduates ranged from about 2.5 to 12 percentage points in 2021. (See Table 2.)
While there has been some positive progress in reducing gaps in employment outcomes by race/ethnicity, the fact remains that many of these gaps are still quite sizable, particularly for Black, Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander graduates. For most racial groups, progress has not been linear, with small movements forward followed by occasional setbacks. The widening gaps for Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander graduates over the past few years are also concerning.
Additional data on disparities in employment outcomes are available in Jobs & JDs: Employment and Salaries of New Graduates, Class of 2021 — available from the NALP Bookstore.
Table 1. Employment Rate by Race/Ethnicity and Gender, 2015-2021
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||||||||
| Employment Rate (%) | # of Graduates* | Employment Rate (%) | # of Graduates* | Employment Rate (%) | # of Graduates* | Employment Rate (%) | # of Graduates* | Employment Rate (%) | # of Graduates* | Employment Rate (%) | # of Graduates* | Employment Rate (%) | # of Graduates* | |
| All Graduates | 86.7% | 38,627 | 87.5% | 35,815 | 88.6% | 33,966 | 89.4% | 33,510 | 90.3% | 33,007 | 88.4% | 33,235 | 91.9% | 34,562 |
| All Men | 87.2% | 19,835 | 87.6% | 17,944 | 88.6% | 16,666 | 89.9% | 16,279 | 90.3% | 15,339 | 87.6% | 14,875 | 91.7% | 15,093 |
| All Women | 86.2% | 18,385 | 87.6% | 17,092 | 88.8% | 16,413 | 89.3% | 16,199 | 90.6% | 16,447 | 89.4% | 16,569 | 92.4% | 17,289 |
| Asian Graduates | 82.3% | 2,970 | 82.8% | 2,815 | 85.5% | 2,821 | 86.3% | 2,709 | 86.4% | 2,545 | 84.7% | 2,473 | 90.3% | 2,674 |
| Asian Men | 81.7% | 1,271 | 81.8% | 1,206 | 85.7% | 1,211 | 86.5% | 1,119 | 84.6% | 1,016 | 85.2% | 1,006 | 90.6% | 1,007 |
| Asian Women | 82.7% | 1,681 | 83.5% | 1,588 | 85.4% | 1,583 | 86.0% | 1,561 | 87.9% | 1,478 | 86.2% | 1,421 | 90.6% | 1,588 |
| Black or African American Graduates | 80.6% | 2,808 | 82.1% | 2,694 | 82.5% | 2,601 | 84.2% | 2,652 | 85.4% | 2,552 | 83.8% | 2,447 | 88.6% | 2,303 |
| Black or African American Men | 81.2% | 1,012 | 83.0% | 996 | 80.8% | 950 | 85.7% | 929 | 86.5% | 882 | 83.9% | 838 | 87.9% | 816 |
| Black or African American Women | 80.2% | 1,777 | 81.5% | 1,678 | 83.5% | 1,627 | 83.4% | 1,676 | 84.7% | 1,632 | 83.9% | 1,574 | 88.9% | 1,420 |
| Latinx Graduates | 83.7% | 2,461 | 84.6% | 3,063 | 85.5% | 2,998 | 87.7% | 3,423 | 88.1% | 3,547 | 87.0% | 3,297 | 90.7% | 3,325 |
| Latinx Men | 85.0% | 1,089 | 85.5% | 1,317 | 86.3% | 1,304 | 88.6% | 1,543 | 88.3% | 1,523 | 85.4% | 1,393 | 89.4% | 1,322 |
| Latinx Women | 82.6% | 1,364 | 83.9% | 1,725 | 85.2% | 1,646 | 87.3% | 1,782 | 87.9% | 1,972 | 88.3% | 1,846 | 91.6% | 1,908 |
| Multiracial Graduates | 85.4% | 1,675 | 85.9% | 970 | 86.7% | 976 | 89.2% | 1,024 | 89.7% | 929 | 88.3% | 1,048 | 92.7% | 1,175 |
| Multiracial Men | 85.3% | 791 | 85.8% | 487 | 83.8% | 470 | 89.8% | 462 | 87.0% | 377 | 87.4% | 437 | 91.4% | 477 |
| Multiracial Women | 85.5% | 880 | 85.9% | 476 | 89.2% | 499 | 88.8% | 554 | 91.5% | 540 | 89.4% | 583 | 93.4% | 655 |
| Native American or Alaska Native Graduates | 84.8% | 164 | 83.8% | 136 | 91.7% | 121 | 89.3% | 112 | 85.5% | 117 | 84.1% | 113 | 88.6% | 114 |
| Native American or Alaska Native Men | 86.0% | 86 | 78.0% | 59 | 90.4% | 52 | 93.8% | 48 | 83.3% | 48 | 87.5% | 48 | 89.6% | 48 |
| Native American or Alaska Native Women | 83.3% | 78 | 88.2% | 76 | 94.0% | 67 | 85.2% | 61 | 85.9% | 64 | 83.6% | 61 | 87.3% | 63 |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander Graduates | 86.2% | 65 | 89.1% | 55 | 90.0% | 40 | 89.7% | 39 | 92.9% | 42 | 81.5% | 88 | 81.1% | 53 |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander Men | 88.5% | 26 | 91.3% | 23 | 87.5% | 24 | 100.0% | 15 | 90.0% | 20 | 81.3% | 32 | 79.2% | 24 |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander Women | 84.6% | 39 | 87.1% | 31 | 93.8% | 16 | 86.4% | 22 | 95.5% | 22 | 81.3% | 48 | 84.6% | 26 |
| White/Caucasian Graduates | 88.4% | 25,219 | 89.4% | 23,088 | 90.7% | 21,544 | 91.3% | 20,776 | 92.1% | 20,060 | 90.1% | 19,870 | 93.1% | 21,028 |
| White/Caucasian Men | 88.5% | 13,946 | 88.9% | 12,570 | 90.4% | 11,516 | 91.0% | 11,053 | 91.8% | 10,201 | 89.0% | 9,870 | 92.6% | 10,091 |
| White/Caucasian Women | 88.4% | 11,200 | 90.0% | 10,378 | 91.3% | 9,859 | 91.6% | 9,486 | 92.5% | 9,493 | 91.4% | 9,715 | 93.8% | 10,264 |
Source: NALP Employment Report and Salary Survey, 2015-2021.
*For whom employment status and the appropriate demographic information was reported.
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| All Graduates | 66.6% | 67.7% | 71.8% | 72.8% | 76.2% | 74.6% | 78.2% |
| All Men | 67.0% | 67.5% | 71.2% | 72.8% | 75.5% | 73.2% | 77.5% |
| All Women | 66.4% | 68.1% | 72.8% | 73.7% | 77.2% | 76.7% | 79.6% |
| Asian Graduates | 62.7% | 64.3% | 68.6% | 69.6% | 70.6% | 71.9% | 75.8% |
| Asian Men | 60.6% | 61.1% | 66.4% | 68.3% | 66.2% | 68.5% | 73.9% |
| Asian Women | 64.5% | 66.4% | 70.4% | 70.7% | 73.7% | 74.2% | 77.9% |
| Black or African American Graduates | 49.1% | 51.2% | 57.2% | 57.5% | 62.4% | 62.5% | 65.9% |
| Black or African American Men | 49.7% | 51.7% | 54.9% | 58.3% | 61.7% | 62.3% | 64.8% |
| Black or African American Women | 48.8% | 51.0% | 58.8% | 57.2% | 62.6% | 62.6% | 66.3% |
| Latinx Graduates | 63.3% | 64.1% | 68.2% | 71.2% | 73.1% | 73.1% | 77.2% |
| Latinx Men | 63.9% | 63.5% | 68.3% | 70.0% | 73.2% | 69.6% | 75.9% |
| Latinx Women | 62.7% | 64.6% | 68.5% | 73.1% | 73.1% | 75.6% | 78.2% |
| Multiracial Graduates | 63.5% | 63.0% | 67.4% | 72.9% | 77.2% | 73.5% | 78.6% |
| Multiracial Men | 62.6% | 61.8% | 63.4% | 74.9% | 74.8% | 72.1% | 78.8% |
| Multiracial Women | 64.5% | 64.3% | 70.9% | 71.3% | 78.7% | 75.6% | 78.5% |
| Native American or Alaska Native Graduates | 65.2% | 63.2% | 70.2% | 72.3% | 63.2% | 65.5% | 69.3% |
| Native American or Alaska Native Men | 67.4% | 57.6% | 69.2% | 72.9% | 58.3% | 62.5% | 70.8% |
| Native American or Alaska Native Women | 62.8% | 67.1% | 71.6% | 70.5% | 65.6% | 68.9% | 69.8% |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander Graduates | 53.8% | 65.5% | 60.0% | 59.0% | 73.8% | 56.8% | 58.5% |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander Men | 53.8% | 69.6% | 41.7% | 80.0% | 75.0% | 50.0% | 50.0% |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander Women | 53.8% | 61.3% | 87.5% | 45.5% | 72.7% | 60.4% | 65.4% |
| White/Caucasian Graduates | 69.7% | 70.9% | 75.2% | 76.6% | 79.8% | 78.0% | 81.0% |
| White/Caucasian Men | 69.3% | 70.3% | 73.9% | 75.6% | 78.4% | 75.9% | 79.4% |
| White/Caucasian Women | 70.2% | 71.7% | 77.0% | 78.1% | 81.1% | 80.3% | 82.8% |
Source: NALP Employment Report and Salary Survey, 2015-2021
