HRSA study finds nursing workforce is growing and more diverse
PR Newswire
The number of licensed registered nurses in the United States grew to a new high of 3.1 million between 2004 and 2008, according to a report released by the Health Resources and Services Administration. This increase of more than 5 percent also reflects growing diversity in the backgrounds of nurses in the United States.More

Few blacks serve in top U.S. diplomatic posts
The Los Angeles Times
The State Department has fallen short in its efforts to promote African-Americans to key frontline diplomatic posts, department officials and diplomats said, despite efforts to increase diversity under two black secretaries of State and a black president. The State Department has high numbers of black employees overall, and some prominent African-Americans in top positions, such as Susan E. Rice, ambassador to the United Nations.More

Advancing the economic security of unmarried women
Center For American Progress
Today nearly half of women are unmarried—a transformational societal change from 1960 when only one-third of women were unmarried. And today virtually every woman will spend at least part of her adult life as the sole supporter of herself or her family. With so many women living on their own, it is crucial that lawmakers take seriously unmarried women's economic security needs.More

Ethnic minorities nine times more likely to be stopped and searched
The Telegraph
The Equality and Human Rights Commission said that forces that continue to "disproportionately" target black and Asian Britons will be threatened with legal action for breaches of the Race Relations Act. The research showed that the Metropolitan Police recorded the highest rates of stop and search, for which officers have to have a reasonable suspicion of involvement in criminality.More

AARP: Unemployment for older Americans surged 331 percent over past decade
Huffington Post
Unemployment for Americans 55 and older surged 331 percent over the past decade, according to a new analysis by the AARP Public Policy Institute. "The data clearly shows that older workers have faced a devastating rise in unemployment, with far-reaching implications not only for their employment status but also for their health and retirement security," said AARP spokeswoman Mary Liz Burns. Burns added that unemployment puts a particularly tough squeeze on middle-aged folks — who often have to provide for kids moving back home after college and elderly parents.More

Doubts about diversity training
The New York Times
Though diversity training has been widely embraced by corporate America, there's little evidence so far that it works, sociologists find. Some training programs are more effective than others: Voluntary programs were better than mandatory ones, and those that focused on the threat of bias and harassment lawsuits were worse than those that did not.More

Pregnancy discrimination suits on the rise
The Houston Employment Law Blog
Long Island Business News reports that pregnancy discrimination complaints with the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission have risen in recent year. Texas employment lawyers predict that the economic recession will prompt even more pregnancy discrimination cases.More