Gendered and Racialized Occupations

Abstract

Occupational membership and professional roles are increasingly central to workers in the contemporary economy where longevity within one company is less normative (Anteby, Chan, & DiBenigno, 2016; Petriglieri, Ashford, & Wrzeniewski, 2019; Petriglieri, Petriglieri, & Wood, 2018). Affiliation with a craft or technical expertise helps individual workers create and develop positive (Dutton, Roberts, & Bednar, 2010), enduring (Pratt, Rockmann, & Kaufmann, 2006) and professional identities (Caza & Creary, 2016), producing beneficial social, psychological, and material outcomes (Parker et al., 2003). Despite increasing focus on occupations in response to the changing labor market landscape, there continues to be a need to understand how gender and race play a role in how occupations are perceived and comprehended in relation to society and evaluated for success. To what extent are certain occupations gendered and racialized? How does the process of gendering or racializing occupations happen? What are the impacts on the employee experience in these roles? This symposium examines the process and outcomes of gendered and racialized occupations. Historically, occupations have been divided by gender (Beilby & Baron, 1986) and race (Semyonov & Herring, 2007) due in part to limited opportunities for women and racial minorities to enter certain fields. In addition to the demographic make-up of occupations, the characteristics of a job may influence its gendered and racial perceptions. For example, some occupations are considered to be more feminine (e.g. librarian, teacher) while other occupations are perceived as more masculine (e.g. firefighter, mechanic; Eagly &Karau, 2002). Recent studies find that racial groups are also perceived as better suited for particular work roles (Hall et al., 2015). To broaden our sight of work occupations in our contemporary labor market, we consider the various ways that gendered and racialized occupations manifest and persist. Previous research suggests that evaluations of success in certain work roles are influenced by gender and racial prescriptions in society (Carton & Rosette, 2011; Rosette & Tost, 2010), which limits opportunities for members of underrepresented groups to occupy specific positions in organizations. These prescriptions are further complicated when gender and race interact, producing gendered race attributes that affect how employees are seen and promoted at work (Hall, Hall, Galinksy, & Phillips, 2019). Attaching gendered and racialized prescriptions to work roles has implications for hiring (Hall, Galinsky, & Phillips, 2015) and actions that marginalized employees take in the workplace (Martin & Phillips, 2017). Although these perceptions of occupations are enduring, new occupations are emerging in our technology-driven, knowledge economy. Women are now the majority of the American workforce (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2019), yet it is unclear whether these gendered and racialized perceptions of occupations will shift to become more feminine and fit for people of color. Our compilation of papers will explore the interaction between gendered and racial stereotypes for occupations, how status and race are intertwined in perceptions of jobs, whether new occupations are automatically gendered, and how the gender and racial identities of diversity leaders influence employees’ perceptions of diversity work. Exploring the Consequences of Gendered Race Presenter: Erika V. Hall; Emory U., Gozuieta Bus Sch Race-Status Associations: Distinct Effects of Three Novel Measures Among White and Black Perceivers Presenter: Cydney Dupree; Yale School of Management Presenter: Brittany Torrez; Yale U. Presenter: Obianuju Obioha; U. of Pittsburgh Presenter: Susan Fiske; Princeton U. Examining Perceptions of Corporate Chiefs of Staff: A New Gendered Occupation? Presenter: Courtney Lynn McCluney; U. of Virginia Darden School of Business Presenter: Ella Washington; Georgetown U., McDonough School of Business Presenter: Morela Hernandez; U. of Virginia Darden School of Business Cultural Marking: How Followers’ Conceptions of Diversity Leaders Shape Followers’ Diversity Work Presenter: Stephanie J. Creary; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania