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Increasing the Social Security Full Retirement Age (FRA) adversely affects all workers because an increase is equivalent to an across-the-board cut in benefits. Raising the FRA leaves workers with two bad choices: working longer or living on reduced monthly benefits for the rest of their lives. Working longer further penalizes Blacks and low-wage workers because they are unlikely to live long enough to recoup payments foregone as a result of delayed claiming. Instead of cutting Social Security benefits, retirement policy makers should update and modernize the 401(k) and IRA systems to provide workers with better options.

The purpose of this research is to determine whether participating in "raced" organizations benefits underrepresented minority (URM) faculty members in their quest for tenure and promotion to associate professor of sociology. Raced organizations such as historically black colleges and universities began as segregated institutions because black students and faculty members were prevented from attending or working at white-dominated institutions. Over time, raced organizations developed within the white-dominated institutions and were often created in opposition to white or "mainstream" sociology. Latina/o organizations (including Hispanic-serving institutions) started years after organizations for black scholars and have followed a similar pattern and purpose. Although historically white institutions no longer legally segregate URM organizations and activities, these organizations and activities often remain marginalized and devalued. The authors examine the relationship of participating in such organizations in contrast to publishing in peer-reviewed journals for climbing the academic ladder at research-extensive and other institutions. The authors find that there is a significant relationship between publishing and being promoted. URM faculty members must follow the "publish or perish" model, following historically white male norms for an "ideal" career in the academic world. The work of black and Latina/o sociologists still appears to be marginalized. Only one type of raced organization or activity, belonging to a URM-oriented section of the American Sociological Association, is significantly related to upward mobility at either research-extensive or non-research-extensive institutions. The authors conclude with a series of policy recommendations for increasing the academic status and well-being of URM faculty members.

Under-represented minority (URM) faculty can expand the range of perspectives taught to students, but only if they are hired, granted tenure, and promoted. Their career paths can be constrained due to a stratification process that appears to legitimate a non-Hispanic White male set of rules and practices, including value neutrality and objectivity. This article measures specific aspects of human and social capital and their relationship to academic stratification in two social science disciplines, economics and sociology. Here, we measure stratification by the distribution of academic rank and examine differences based on discipline, institution type, race/ethnicity, gender, and publications in terms of academic career success. Our data are unique because they are gathered from multiple secondary sources. One contribution of this article is to measure social capital as a "two worlds" phenomenon, taken from W. E. B. Du Bois. Not surprisingly, we find that "publish or perish" still rules. Conversely, URM-oriented social capital, which can provide a safe space and opportunities to collaborate on scholarly work, is not significant. But, it may be related to feelings of satisfaction and inclusion. The only exceptions are URM-oriented sections in sociology. The article concludes with a series of policy recommendations to support URM faculty members in their careers.