Particularism in authority outcomes of black and white supervisors

Abstract

Based on Kanter's notion of homosocial reproduction and the claim that promotion within authority hierarchies is susceptible to particularistic manipulation, we posit several hypotheses about the processes whereby black and white male supervisors attain authority within the supervisory category. Span of control (the number of subordinates) and span of responsibility (say regarding promotions and salary) are the dimensions of authority studied. Data come from the 1972 and 1975 panels of the Michigan Survey Research Center's PSID. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that blacks advance in settings where they are more likely to supervise other blacks. Also, consistent with the hypothesis that blacks have to be more qualified than their white counterparts, blacks apparently have to demonstrate the attitudes and values presumed to characterize a good supervisor if they are to advance. We also find that, regardless of race, a supervisor's span of responsibility, as compared with span of control, is more closely linked to the explanatory variables we have examined. We infer from this that the granting of responsibility for making decisions about pay and promotions is more carefully scrutinized and controlled than the granting of more subordinates to be supervised.