Native Americans in the US face disparities in employment—but employers can help

Many companies recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day on the second Monday of October. And yet, the disparities faced by American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) people in the workplace aren’t always recognized.

Barriers to progress. There are approximately 9.7 million AIAN people in the US, according to the 2020 US Census, with many associated with one of the country’s 574 recognized tribal nations. While AIAN people have seen gains in household income and educational attainment, barriers to progress persist.

“Anyone who is of Indigenous descent, comes from a family history line of structural oppression and hardship,” Britnee Johnston, a member of the Collaboratory for Indigenous Data Governance at the University of Arizona, told HR Brew.

As a result, AIAN people still face hurdles to economic equality and face higher disparities, like higher rates of unemployment and lower rates of home ownership, health insurance enrollment, and obtaining a bachelor’s degree compared with white Americans.

“They also tend to have the lowest median wages compared to other US workers. So if they are working, they're not making as much as they should be compared to others,” Johnston said.

“Indigenous individuals are not being given the opportunity to take on positions of higher power and pay,” Johnston said, noting a 2017 study that found 1 in 3 Indigenous adults say they have experienced discrimination in the promotion process. She says it’s not enough for companies to have mentorship programs because those often do not lead to promotion, which can compound pay disparities.

Johnston believes that employers can do more to combat implicit biases and discrimination. “Indigenous people are dealing with colleagues or supervisors who make assumptions about their culture and history, so they just don’t fully understand who they are and what their history is,” she said. “Native Americans are tribal nations. They’re not just a racial ethnic group. They are a political group. They have their own governments. They have their own constitutions, courts, workforce development departments, natural resources departments.”

Steps to inclusion. Johnston said employers can be more thoughtful in how they recruit Indigenous people. Some tactics, such as adopting skills-based hiring, may already be part of a company’s inclusion strategy. Johnston also recommended partnering with one of the country’s 35 Tribal Colleges and Universities, like Haskell University in Kansas, as well as tribal governments and urban Indian centers.

While most (87%) AIAN people live in urban areas, 13% live on reservations, so remote-work flexibility could also help companies reach this population of potential workers, according to Johnston.

While recognizing Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a holiday is also a step in the right direction, “You’re still not really learning what the history is, or the stereotypes,” Johnston said, adding, “They are modern day people. They work jobs. They provide for their families. They have job skills. They are educated. They’re living in houses. They live all across the country.”

Johnston encourages employers and employees not to make assumptions about prospective or current AIAN employees who may not “look” Indigenous. “There needs to be more cultural training for managers and employees that could be anti-discrimination training, as well just learning more about the history and showing visuals of what modern day Indigenous people look like that they bring to the workplace.”