Work Ethic: Is It A Race Or Ethnicity Issue?

Many people are familiar with the idea of the protestant work ethic, but how many of us have ever stopped to examine what the term “work ethic,” means? In addition to exploring what work ethic is, we set out to examine how it varied between cultures, who worked the most, and who didn't; the answers that we found just may surprise you.

A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology earlier this year, found that the American work ethic has steadily declined over the last 30 years, at a rate of 15 percent. The study asked more than 7,800 men and women of varying demographics, if they would continue to work in the event of a large financial windfall that provided enough money for them to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

What is “work ethic?” How do we quantify it? According to Dictionary.com, the definition of work ethic is “a belief in the moral benefit and importance of work, and its inherent ability to strengthen character.” The Puritans brought this idea to America when they settled here in the 17th century, and began building their colonies in New England. While the Puritans believed that God already predetermined those who were going to heaven, no one knew who would make it and who would not, so they insisted on hard work every day, but Sunday, which became known as the Puritan or Protestant work ethic.

Quantifying “work ethic” is a somewhat tricky proposition. There are a number of different theories about what makes people work hard. Some think it is a “nature vs. nurture” issue, meaning that if you came from a family of hard, dedicated workers, then you would be as well. While this may hold some anecdotal truth, this is not universally true.

Several different factors affect work ethic. The study in the Journal of Applied Psychology measured factors such as job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and general happiness. This study found little evidence that demographics plays a significant role in work ethic, but a survey by Mercer, a Canadian consulting firm that conducts workplace related studies, demonstrated that there is indeed a correlation between work ethic, life satisfaction, and general happiness that fluctuates by demographic.

The Mercer survey examined the amount of time people spent working in more than 20 countries around the world. The results in this study show that the countries that have the most days off per year also have the best work ethics. The highest ranked countries on the list include Lithuania and Brazil. Brazilians get an average of 41 days off per year, and their economy is thriving. Lithuanians get 41 days per year as well; however, some demographics, such as handicapped, and those caring for small children, receive up to 48 days per year.

In contrast, workers in the United States and Canada, receive approximately 15 days and 19 days respectively. It is easy to see how the American work ethic could be in a decline as stated in the Journal of Applied Psychology. According to the Mercer study, Asians, have the strongest work ethic, and get 21-36 days per year, but this varies by country.

How Does Age Affect Employee Work Ethic?

“Kids these days do not know what hard work is.” Anyone remember a grandparent saying something like that, well, while you may have brushed the comment off as the grousing of an elderly relative, but there is an element of truth in that statement.

An April 3, 2010 article in The Washington Post, illustrated how in general, those of the millennial generation exhibit a poorer work ethic than the Generation Xers. In the article, Jared Rogalia, an employee at Hertz rental car in Alexandria, VA, said that he characterizes millennials as “really spoiled and lazy.” Rogalia, who himself is only 25, says that his peers would “rather be poorer and have free time than have a lot of money.”

A study conducted at the Pew Research Center, also shows that Baby Boomers and Gen Xers have a better work ethic than those in their 20s.

According to the April Washington Post article, Maya Enista, 26, said the term “work ethic,” used in the Pew study is misleading because millennials use technology to remain connected to their jobs, so they do not have to put in as much time as their elders did. Employers however, seem to disagree.

A common complaint among employers is that workers in their 20s do not want to do what it takes to be successful. Because their grandparents and parents worked hard to provide them with a better life, they automatically assume that they have things coming to them. They do not appear to understand that it took hard work to give them a better life; they just take everything for granted.

Have you visited a Wal-Mart store lately? How many people in their 20s do you see greeting people at the door or stocking shelves? Not many, in most cases, and it seems the millennium generation has a problem working low paying jobs. They want to make large amounts of money, but they do not want to put in the necessary effort to earn it.

The Races And Ethnicities Of Hard Work

Asians

Which race or ethnicity has the best work ethic? Some say that hands down, it is the Asian countries. Countries like India, Pakistan, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Japan, Korea, etc., put in more time at work than those of us in the U.S. It is not uncommon in Asian countries to find the workday ending at 10 p.m.

In India, nearly 43 percent of the population is self-employed. In contrast, here in the U.S. our self-employment rates vary by geographic area, but there is not a single area with a self-employment rate above 11 percent.

While those of Asian origin make up only 12.4 percent of the American minority population, according to the most recent study done by the Small Business Administration, (SBA), they own 26.9 percent of minority owned small businesses in the country, and account for 48.9 percent of the total amount earned by minority owned small businesses.

No wonder one of the most common stereotypes of Asian Indians is that they own all the convenience stores in the country. While stereotypes are wrong, the numbers indicate that indeed there are a significant number of self-employed Asian immigrants.

However, hard work is not limited to the work place in Asian countries. It is present even in the elementary school classrooms. Asian families place the utmost importance upon education. Often called the Confucian Work Ethic, test scores prove that students of Asian origin have the highest test scores, and the highest high school graduation rates of immigrant populations.

Many go on to obtain higher education degrees as well. In a 2003 interview, Bill Moyers of the Public Broadcasting television show, “Becoming American: The Chinese Experience” spoke with Dr. David Ho, the man some say, could cure HIV.

In the interview, Ho said, “The educational system in Taiwan is highly competitive, and even at the elementary level, we were told that you had to excel, because if you did not, you would not get into middle school. And of course, everyone wanted to get into the best, or the better ones. I'm not sure that it is necessarily healthy, but we were told to focus on education.”

This is not a new phenomenon either. A March 28, 1983 article in Time Magazine, examined the Asian work ethic in schools. According to the article, “achievement has more to do with nurture than nature.” The article goes on to theorize that Asian cultures view high achievement as the only way to repay the debt owed to parents and grandparents, and show them the utmost honor and respect.

Hispanics

According to the same SBA study discussed above, Hispanics make up 13.5 percent of the entire population, and 42.41 percent of the minority population of the entire U.S., and own 38.3 percent of the minority owned small businesses in the country.

However, this study does not take into account the hundreds of thousands of migrant farm workers that come to the U.S., both legally and illegally, each year. In June 22, 2004, an article in the Havana Journal, farmers in Lexington County South Carolina praised the work ethic of the hundreds of Hispanic farm workers they employ each year.

“Without them, we would not be able to produce,” says Chris Rawl, an area farmer. “For them, a good work week is 60 to 80 hours, about like mine.”

Ramiro Capistran, who hires, and oversees labor and farm production at Stacy's Greenhouses in York, South Carolina, says, “You can go and see for yourself.”

He says the majority of his workers are Hispanic, “I can count on my fingers the Americans who apply.” Again, this demonstrates the decline in the American work ethic, specifically, in respect to how the younger generation in particular, see themselves as being too important for manual labor.

Culturally, Hispanics are a close-knit group. It is common to see three or more generations living in the same home, and all working together to take care of the family's needs.

Many Hispanic workers are happy to work extra hours because they are supporting multiple generations of the family. In addition, this family stability gives them the ability to put in the extra time on the job.

As the Journal of Applied Psychology study demonstrated, this type of stability greatly influences work ethic.

African-Americans

When it comes to work ethic within the African-American community, they are divided into two groups, the haves, and the have-nots.

According to a story posted in The Washington Post on April 12, 2006, a plumber, Malcolm Jordan, tells of the harassment he faced in his neighborhood by the people who did not share his work ethic. “The guys used to laugh at me when I came home from work all dirty. They had the cars, the clothes, the girls. Now, their fast money is gone, and many of them are too. However, I own a home, and I have a car. If the guys could see how I live today, they would have a totally different view of what it means to come home with dirty clothes on.”

James Thrower, who teaches all the skills of electrical work through the apprenticeship program with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26 in Washington, D.C., says that with a little bit of effort and a good work ethic, he can have anyone earning a healthy $65,000 income. Thrower says, “some of them really do not want to work that hard.”

Courtland Milloy, the author of the Washington Times piece, says, “the commitment, sacrifice and perseverance-those qualities that the only group of people to arrive on these shores as slaves relied on for survival and success,” is what more African-Americans need.

Work ethic is often dependent upon the type of familial support network that one comes from. No community demonstrates this more than the black community.

Often, the most successful of the black community are those who come from homes with parents who have a strong work ethic.

However, this is not always the case, look at Charles Payne, an analyst on the Fox Business channel, as well as a very successful businessman, but he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Payne grew up in the rough Manhattan area of Harlem, and throughout his entire life, all he wanted was to be a businessman, and he could not wait to carry a briefcase. His mother worked so hard to buy him that briefcase, and then the “thugs” in the neighborhood took it and broke it. The incident still pains him today, even though he is one of the most successful black men on Wall Street as well as being on television. Payne put himself through college while serving in the U.S. military.

The work ethic of African-Americans is somewhat of a dichotomy. On one hand, there are those blacks who are hard working, driven, and have strong support systems, something critical to a good work ethic as we have previously established.

On the other, is the community of “thug” blacks who drop out of school, go for the fast money offered by crime, and have a general disdain for hard work. There does not seem to be much middle ground within this ethnic group.

Caucasians

As mentioned above, the idea of the work ethic came to America with the Puritans. Being of white European decent, they personified hard work, and the belief that their hard work would get them into heaven if they were pre-selected by God for such an honor. The only day they did not work was on Sunday, because it was against Puritan law to work on the Sabbath.

The work ethic of Caucasians is something that few, if any, scientists have measured. Although there are a number of possible reasons, however, one this might include that white American work ethic is too convoluted to measure.

Over the last several hundred years, since the Puritans came to the shores of New England, the colonies and country has experienced several paradigm shifts that affected the work ethic of the mostly white population of European decent. Things like the industrial revolution, desegregation, and Affirmative Action, all contributed to what studies show as a decline in the white work ethic. As technology progresses, many among the white American population believe they do not have to work as hard because technology does the work for them, as Enista eluded to in the April Washington Post article.

The government plays a role in the work ethic of this country, and it is one of the few, if not the only country in the world to incorporate a welfare system to take care of those who do not work to support themselves. In other parts of the world, particularly where we see incredibly strong work ethics, the choices of these people are work for a living to feed your family, or starve to death. It is that simple.

This does not mean white Americans are not hard workers, quite the opposite in fact. Every small business owner in the country will attest to the incredible work ethic that it takes to run a business, with no one else responsible for its failure or success, but themselves. However, when compared with other ethnic groups, a great many white Americans appear to value their leisure time more than their work.

The Effects Of Affirmative Action On Work Ethic

Executive Order 11246, also known as Affirmative Action, is gaining more and more criticism. Every time a new story appears in newspapers, pundits from both sides start arguing about the effectiveness of Affirmative Action, and whether or not, it is a program still needed. More and more minorities themselves are starting to question whether it is necessary. While that debate will continue to rage, Affirmative Action does have an influence on the work ethic of all Americans, and the effect has not been good.

“If it is to be credited for anything, it is for leading our nation's work ethic toward and into the waste receptacle.” Associate Editor Chris Tucker said of Affirmative Action in a fall 1991 article in Helvidius, the Journal of Politics & Society at Columbia University. “Instead of telling a son to 'work hard, and most of the time your diligence, achievement, and quality of work will be recognized.' A parent must now express this in different terms: 'Work hard and be the best, and even when you become the best, hope like hell that someone of a more underprivileged racial grouping does not barely pass the cut.' A work ethic requires the hope that a person's efforts yield success or advancement, but this hope requires the implementation of a fair system. If the government would like to aid minorities, it should raise them by their bootstraps rather than drag them by their hair.”

He adds that it is difficult to have a good work ethic, when despite your best efforts you do not receive the reward for the hard work. It is in this way that Affirmative Action damages the American work ethic. However, people should not let the fear of being shortchanged keep them from working hard and reaping the rewards, which includes the personal satisfaction of a job well done.

Sources:

• http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JITE/v41n1/brauchle.html


• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/02/AR2010040201452.html


• http://www.helvidius.org/files/1991/1991_Tucker.pdf


• http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041101795.html


• http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/slumdog-entrepreneurs/


• http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,923424,00.html


• Highhouse, S et al. (2010). “Would You Work If You Won the Lottery? Tracking Changes in the American Work Ethic”. Journal of Applied Psychology. March 2010, Vol. 95, No. 2, p 349-357.