Abstract
Work plays a crucial role in rising social inequalities, which refer to unequal opportunities and rewards for different social groups. Whereas the conventional view of workplaces as meritocracies suggests that work is a conduit for social equality, we unveil the ways in which workplaces contribute to the accumulation of social inequality. In our cumulative social inequality in workplaces (CSI-W) model, we outline how initial differences in opportunities and rewards shape performance and/or subsequent opportunities and rewards, such that those who receive more initial opportunities and rewards tend to receive even more over time. These cumulative social inequality dynamics take place via nine different mechanisms spanning four different levels (individual, dyadic, network, and organizational). The CSI-W indicates that the mechanisms interact, such that the social inequality dynamics in workplaces tend to (a) exacerbate social inequalities over time, (b) legitimate social inequalities over time, and (c) manifest themselves through everyday occurrences and behaviors.
Highlights
Work plays a crucial role in rising social inequalities, which refer to unequal opportunities and rewards for different social groups
The recent surge in the number of publications on how organizations tend to contribute to inequality (e.g., Cobb, 2016; Pitesa & Pillutla, 2019; Stephens et al, 2014; Tolbert & Castilla, 2017; Tsui et al, 2018) follows decades of research on diversity, which has attempted to explain the ways in which individuals, on the basis of their social group membership, have been disadvantaged in organizations (Acker, 2006; Zanoni et al, 2010)
We contribute to the more recent literature on inequality as well as the more established literature on diversity in organizations by providing an understanding of the mechanisms via which social inequalities accumulate over time, which we argue is crucial for a more thorough understanding of the causes and consequences of social inequalities in the workplace
Summary
Work plays a crucial role in rising social inequalities, which refer to unequal opportunities and rewards for different social groups. By offering opportunities and rewards based on workers’ contributions, workplaces are expected to dissolve initial inequalities in opportunities and rewards, thereby enabling social mobility and reducing or breaking broad societal patterns of stratification (Pitesa & Pillutla, 2019) This view of workplaces as meritocracies has been challenged by numerous studies indicating that in many workplaces, employees continue to be treated differently depending on their social group membership (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic background) (Acker, 2006; Hirsh, 2009; Merluzzi & Sterling, 2017; Pitesa & Pillutla, 2019; Rubery & Grimshaw, 2015). Whereas there is ample research in sociology (DiPrete & Eirich, 2006), economy (Piketty, 2014), and medicine (Warner & Brown, 2011) indicating that people with initial advantages tend to be richer and in better health as they age than those with initial disadvantages, little is known about the role that the workplace plays in these cumulative processes
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