Dawn Staley is Wrong

November 23, 2023– Thanksgiving Day

Dawn Staley is the women’s basketball coach at the University of South Carolina. In 2021 she signed an historic coaching contract for $22 million. Her annual pay is 2.5 times higher than the Dean of the USC Business School. She has a net worth of $7 million. She has been incredibly successful as a player and coach.

Recently, she used her high-profile status to highlight alleged pay disparities for Black women. She claims Black women are subject to racial and gender bias. The data does show Black women earn less than white men and white women, but nowhere does Staley offer the true reason. Black household income is $20,000 to $30,000 less than white families because Black households are overwhelmingly (75%) single women, often poorly educated and working part-time. These Black women have childcare issues. White families mostly have 2 wage earners. Asians often have 3 wage earners per household.

Data shows men earn a higher income than women, and the reason is very clear and indisputable. Men work in higher paying industries. Period. Women work in retail, clerical, childcare, education, medical admin., and other low skill industries. Also, due to childcare issues, many women work part-time.

Racial and gender bias is not the reason. Staley is wrong. Black women need job-related skills and education. For years, companies have tried very hard to recruit Blacks and women. Quotas, affirmative action, and DEI have hardly made a dent in the wage gap. Notable economists James Heckman (Nobel Prize) and Thomas Sowell have studied the pay gap problem for decades. They both conclude parenting skills, family structure, and education is the true basis for any wage disparities.

Footnote–Staley is 53 and has never been married, and has no children.