Inequality in professional work

Abstract

The persistence of income inequality despite inclusion efforts is a paradox that remains central to academic and policy inquiry alike. In this special issue, we bring together nine articles published in the Journal of Professions and Organizations (JPO) to highlight the ways in which professional stratification is moderated by intersectional identities and organizational diversity initiatives. Professions have long provided an excellent lens to investigate processes of social inequality and continue to be an important site to understand new formulations of identity and resource circulation globally (Harrington and Seabrooke 2020). We propose that the body of research around inequality in the professions answers three important questions; First, how do individuals experience and create strategies to manage their professional lives? Second, how do factors outside of the workplace influence professional experiences? And, third, how do organizations try to increase diversity and what are the outcomes of these initiatives? Altogether, we see these articles as building on the argument that social structure and inequality are not static concepts and hence, addressing their challenges requires dynamic and interconnected solutions. Social structure and inequality are processes influenced by multiple interactions between people, organizations, cultures, and environments. Using empirical illustrations and new theoretical frameworks, these selected articles reinforce the premise that professional expertise is often ‘done’ (West and Zimmerman 1987) and that such performances call for attention across different levels of analysis (Risman 2004).