Ordinary Workers Research Articles

Big data development and labor income share: Evidence from China's national big data comprehensive pilot zones

In the midst of the rapid development of the digital economy, data has emerged as a new core production factor. It not only creates value for producers but also benefits the majority of ordinary workers, playing a crucial role in optimizing income distribution and promoting common prosperity. Utilizing data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2012 to 2021, this study evaluates the impact of big data development on the labor income share of enterprises, employing the establishment of China's national big data comprehensive pilot zones as a quasi-natural experiment. Additionally, it examines the heterogeneity of this impact across regional, industry, and firm levels. The findings reveal that big data development significantly increases the labor income share of firms, mainly through mitigating labor mismatch, improving innovation capability, and upgrading human capital. Heterogeneity analysis shows that big data development exerts a stronger effect on eastern and labor-rich regions, high-tech and non-labor-intensive industries, big-data industries and low-competition industries, as well as state-owned and mature enterprises. This study provides policy insights on fully harnessing the benefits of big data pilot policy to increase labor income share, with important implications for developing countries.

Профсоюзы и общественное мнение в Республике Башкортостан в конце XX – начале XXI в.

The article examines the dynamics of public opinion regarding trade union organizations in Bashkortostan in the post-Soviet period. The analysis of the scientific literature indicates that the problem is insufficiently studied. The main sources used in the article, in addition to archival documents, were the materials of the periodical press. The work notes that during the transition to market relations, trade unions restructured their work with an emphasis on strengthening the protection of the rights of employees, began to interact with all branches of government, negotiated with employers and concluded agreements and collective agreements. Non-fulfillment of agreements by enterprises and the state forced trade unions to organize collective actions: rallies, strikes, pickets. In the early 1990s, as sociological studies showed, citizens’ trust in trade unions remained high, paradoxically combined, however, with distrust of all political forces. Most likely, it is precisely distrust of trade unions that explains the attempts to create new public organizations in the 1990s, uniting ordinary workers. Many workers expressed dissatisfaction with the indecisive actions of the trade unions, urging them to pay attention to protecting the interests of workers. Special studies have found a decrease in the authority of trade unions among workers from the early 1990s to the early 2010s. At the same time, trade union leaders noted the passivity and inertia of ordinary trade union members, their non-participation in collective actions. Thus, on the one hand, the workers recognized the trade unions as the only defenders of their interests, on the other, they assessed its activities poorly, reluctantly participated in collective events.

DISCRIMINATION IN THE FIELD OF LABOR AND OBLIGATIONS OF THE PARTIES TO LABOR AND DIRECTLY RELATED RELATIONS

The purpose of the article is to analyze the current legislation in order to determine the ratio of generally recognized principles of labor law and the obligations of the parties to labor relations, including the obligation of the state to ensure protection against unemployment. The authors analyzed the norms of the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan concerning the duties of employers and employees of the guiding party, the norms of the Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan in relation to some issues of legal regulation of unemployment. As a result of the analysis of the current labor and related legislation, the authors came to the conclusion that some norms of the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as the new Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, are discriminatory. In particular, the legal status of employees and employees of the sending party in the Labor Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan varies, especially regarding the duties of employees of the sending party. Thus, a number of signs were identified that make it possible to conclude that despite the lack of equal rights and opportunities for employees of the sending party in comparison with ordinary employees engaged in labor activities under the employment contract, the obligations of the above-mentioned parties to labor relations coincide. In some cases, some duties inherent in ordinary workers are unnecessarily imputed to the employees of the guiding party. As an example, the obligation of the employee of the sending party to compensate for material damage to the employer in case of violation of the non-competition condition is given. In addition, the analysis of some norms of the Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan concerning the legal regulation of unemployment made it possible to determine the trends of discrimination against individuals. Thus, clause 6, paragraph 3, article 99 of the Social Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan limits the right of convicted persons in protection against unemployment by the state. The authors point to the need to revise some of the current legislation in order to exclude discrimination in the workplace.

Towards a new progressive labour culture? Industry-oriented channels, bitter and precarious structure of feeling and worker solidarity in China

This article explores the progressive potential of commercial industry-oriented channels (IoCs), an emerging form of media produced by and addressed to workers of specific industries, on China’s digital platforms. Juxtaposing textual analysis with worker-audience interviews and participant observation, I found that despite the collusion of state surveillance and platform governance, IoCs prove instrumental in fostering resistive labour subjects and collectives among ordinary workers. This is due to IoCs’ genre convention and discourses, but more importantly, to worker-audience’s bitter and precarious structure of feeling that mediates their collective reception processes. The findings complicate our understanding of the potential of media/cultural production for labour resistance, highlighting the role of worker-audience in the circuit of progressive labour culture and the potential of commercial media in fostering radical class subjects. Drawing on the analysis, I further advance a model of worker media as double articulation, to open up more hermeneutic and action space for cultural labour activism.

Sovietinės gamyklos kasdienybė: „Elfos“ radijo imtuvų gamyklos atvejis (XX a. 7–9 dešimtmečiais)

This study takes a closer look at how Soviet workers lived and adapted to the changes, reconciling personal ambitions with the economic and ideological plan. The everyday life is examined in terms of the worker’s relationship to the factory and its role in the worker’s life. This study analyses the effects of the deficit economy, speculation and the plundering of socialist property, which contributed to everyday life. This study reveals what the realisation of socialist ideals, plans and visions looked like through the eyes of an ordinary worker at the “Elfa” radio factory, focusing on the everyday life of the workers, revealing the real experiences of the people who worked in the factory.

Developing Advanced Technological Environment of Production Enterprises

Transformations aimed at shaping advanced technological environment are necessary to maintain competitiveness and develop production enterprises in constantly changing market conditions. Technological transformation of the enterprise implies a set of steps aimed at introducing information and communication, resource-saving and other technologies, so that the enterprise will be able to put out innovative goods, reach serious organizational improvement in business and comply with fast growing needs of market. The article gives the author’s classification of transformation processes according to their speed and necessity of conducting, at the same time a model of technological transformation of industrial enterprises is put forward. The model includes 4 lines of transformation: production processes, purchase and sale operations, organization of work space and finance processes. Through analyzing benefits of technological transformations it becomes clear that they could speed up work operations, cut excessive steps and resource spending, as well as improve the quality of customer service and efficiency of enterprise functioning in general. The principle challenge of shaping the advanced technological environment at enterprises is absence of support of the part of top management and ordinary workers, high cost of introducing innovation and threat of data storage security. Practical significance of research findings is connected with possibility to use them in finding strategic lines and policy of technological transformation of industrial enterprises.

Стосунки вахманів з євреями у таборі смерті Белжець: за архівними матеріалами СБУ

The purpose of the article is to investigate the relationship between the Vakhman staff and Jews who ended up in the Belzec extermination camp, directly or indirectly: during the creation of this camp, during its main functioning, and at the time of the liquidation of this structure, using materials contained in branch archives of the SSU. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, systematicity and objectivity, induction, and deduction. The methods used should be considered the method of analysis and partially the chronological, geographical, and historical-genetic methods. The scientific novelty of the research results is attributable to the insufficient study of the problem in the previous period and to the introduction into scientific circulation and processing by the article's author of a complex of little-known archival materials. Conclusions. In the Belzec extermination camp, an established mechanism of execution was involved, in which the Vakhman staff and kapos took a direct part in all its stages. Kapos and workers from the brigades allowed the camp management to replace ordinary Vakhmans at some stages of the destruction of prisoners, the reason for which was a conflict of interests. There were different ways of killing Jews: by shooting, gassing, and physical beating. Considering the Jews as workers, we found out that they were not a homogeneous category, divided by gender – into men's and women's teams, by professional orientation – into team workers and narrowly qualified workers, by social stratum – into ordinary workers and «seniors» in the form of kapo and oberkapo. Relations between the Vakhmans and the Jews had an exclusively «functional» character. The files mentioned only one attempt at a joint action by the Vakhman staff and the prisoners against the German administration, which ended in failure. The result was the tragic end of the labor brigade, which could serve as an example and perhaps one of the reasons for the uprising in the Sobibor extermination camp. The biggest problem of studying the issue based on the archival files remains the statistical research directions and the event chronology because the evidence gives only approximate dates and data on the number of workers and those killed. Prospects for further research are possible due to the expansion of the source base by attracting new archival cases, as well as due to the method of comparative analysis of various extermination camps and an interdisciplinary approach in the study of psychological portraits of guards and prisoner-workers.

COMPARISON OF THE IMPACT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CAPITALIST ECONOMIC SYSTEM ON COMMUNITY WELFARE BY THE UNITED STATES AND CHINA

Capitalist economics is an ideology introduced by Adam Smith as an economic system controlled by the private sector and the government does not play too much of a role in trading activities. However, if we look at the bad impact of the Capitalist economic system, there is a social gap between rich and poor people. Because in this system the private sector has the right to seek maximum profits in any way and has the right to increase its business. while ordinary workers can only work and receive wages from the rich, so that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. So this research will discuss the impact of the implementation of the capitalist economic system on the welfare of society in the United States and China, and whether the progress of these two countries can improve the prosperity of their society. This research uses a qualitative method based on existing literature and information discussing the case. The results of this research are that the United States and China as developed countries and dominate international markets cannot avoid cases of social inequality among their communities. The intensity of the phenomenon of inequality of opinion and even gender continues to narrow, facilities such as education and health in cities and villages are very different, many children in villages experience delays in receiving education compared to children who live in urban areas.

Losers of representation: Gains and losses of globalisation as seen by workers in internationalised companies in the Netherlands

ABSTRACT Dichotomisation between winners and losers is a prominent element of the debate on globalisation, with ordinary workers often considered losers. However, little is known about what workers make of globalisation, how they experience the phenomenon, and how they talk about it. We use a set of focus groups to explore meaning-making on the globalisation of the economy among lower-educated employees of Dutch internationalised firms. We find that they weigh up the pros and cons and proudly struggle with the consequences of globalisation. To the degree that they feel left behind, it is by politics and government. This suggests that dislike of globalisation is the result of negative experiences with politics, rather than the other way around.

Determinants of Understanding of Labor Laws: Evidence from Japanese University Students

AbstractThis study investigates Japanese university students’ knowledge of labor laws using test theory and analyzes the determinants of understanding of labor laws. The college enrollment rate in recent years in Japan is over 50% of secondary education graduates, and as a result, college graduates are no longer considered elite employees. Rather, almost all graduates are merely ordinary workers. For that reason, students need to learn about their employment rights before obtaining initial employment to protect themselves and their future careers. However, there are few studies regarding Japanese university students’ knowledge of labor laws. This study, therefore, investigates their labor laws knowledge based on latent rank theory and analyzes the determinants by econometric analysis. Empirical results show that the average of correctly answered questions regarding Japanese labor laws is about 50%. I can view this record as not being positive because subjects start their job-hunting process with less than an ideal amount of legal knowledge. This research also confirms that there are positive correlations between some independent variables (for example, field of study, the number of credits regarding career education, experience with exploitive labor, and the number of friends who are older than a given subject) and the rank of labor law knowledge. This implies that education and experience regarding career development while enrolled in university correlates with better understanding of labor laws.

РЕСОЦІАЛІЗАЦІЯ ЗАСУДЖЕНИХ ЧЕРЕЗ ПРИЗМУ ЇХ ПРАЦЕВИКОРИСТАННЯ

The article examines the issue of employment of persons sentenced to imprisonment. In the modern criminal law of Ukraine, the order and conditions of employment of persons sentenced to imprisonment are established in such a way that they hardly differ from the order and conditions of work of other citizens who work at enterprises of various forms of ownership. However, the work of convicts in penal institutions is significantly different from the work performed by ordinary workers. Thanks to the involvement of convicts in work in combination with other means (the regime of serving the sentence, social and educational work, etc.), it is possible to achieve positive changes in the personality of the convict, which are a real possibility in the future in the direction of adaptation to life after release from serving the sentence. Community service is one of the most effective means of correction and resocialization of convicts. The analysis of scientific publications concerning the labor use of convicts before deprivation of liberty, in the vast majority, indicates international approaches to this problem, that is, convicts can be involved in work for the purpose of correction and acquisition of certain skills, and not for the purpose of compensating for material losses, moral damage to persons, victims from crimes, or profit making by enterprises of penal institutions. Reasoned reformation of the normative and legal principles of the labor use of convicts in places of deprivation of liberty, changes in approaches to the regulation and organization of the work of convicts during the execution and serving of punishment, can contribute to improving the situation in the direction of the implementation of such a means of resocialization as the labor of convicts. In addition, taking into account by the administration of the institution of execution of punishments the special characteristics of convicts can be useful in the process of labor utilization of convicts. Key words: sentenced to imprisonment, right to work, labor exploitation, correction and resocialization.

Features of the introduction of the concept of zero injuries in an industrial enterprise

The article discusses the concept of "zero injury" as an approach to the organization of prevention, combining three areas — safety, occupational health and well-being of workers at all levels of production. The article also addresses the issues of risk assessment and the organization of the occupational health and safety management system in companies. The author draws attention to the importance of the active involvement of ordinary workers in the process of risk assessment and the development of rules for safe work.

“A phobia of numbers?” the labour movement and social surveys in the German Empire

ABSTRACT Historians have long studied how statistical offices and parliamentary bodies made use of surveys to explore the lives of workers, and, in so doing, how they produced new social categories and strategies for political intervention in the process. Less attention has been paid to the role that surveys played in the history of the early labour movement. Drawing on extensive discussions in socialist and trade-union periodicals, this article explores how the labour movement in the German Empire perceived, responded to, and used social surveys. The article is divided into three parts. The first part discusses labour’s critical response to the growing number of surveys on working-class life by middle-class reformers, social researchers, and the state. The second part studies what appeared to be the only logical consequence of their critique, namely the independent gathering and analysis of data. The third part finally analyses why, despite the large number of independent surveys launched by party functionaries and local trade unions, participation among ordinary workers remained strikingly low. In the conclusion, the article shows that this might have stemmed not only from disinterest and inertia but also from how the labour leadership conceived of and presented the benefits of social surveys.

지속가능한 국가형성을 위한 주거복지 패러다임의 전환

A necessary element for the formation of a nation is its people, who have been elevated from a “means-value” to a “humanistic value,” and as human beings, citizens must be protected by the state in terms of essential rights and values. They must also be free from state interference and obstruction in realizing these rights and values. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential for human survival. Currently, housing has become a means of accumulating wealth and a symbol of economic status and position. However, the physical space of housing is not only a place of residence but also an emotional home and the foundation of humanity. Housing cannot be left to be a means of profit-seeking or wealth accumulation. Housing policy should be a policy for all citizens, and it should be aimed at developing and maintaining a middle class of at least 80% of the population in order to ensure the sustainable and healthy development of the country. Universal housing stability should be implemented for the entire population, except for the top 10% of asset holders based on labor income. Simply enacting the “Basic Housing Act” as a law under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport would not fully address the issue of housing welfare. Housing welfare in Korea must consider housing, education, transportation, and the environment comprehensively based on a paradigm shift in housing. In the current Korean situation, education and housing policies must be connected and directed towards the right direction. In terms of climate crisis response, housing policy must establish a new direction for improving the housing environment, including transportation and reconstruction. If climate crisis is discussed but not included in housing policy, the sincerity and effectiveness of climate response policy will be undermined. Housing, workplace, and education should be based on a certain area, and mobility should be possible within the jurisdiction of the basic local government. The beginning of housing welfare is when an average wage earner can secure a residence in a place where educational conditions and social infrastructure are in place while minimizing physical and temporal distance from their workplace, which is a socially universal phenomenon. A society where ordinary workers can save a certain amount of money from their usual household expenses and use financial tools such as public loans to secure stable housing is a normal and sustainable society. Housing must not be left to become a means of accumulating wealth and a starting point for inequality. To secure stable housing, the paradigm of housing policy should shift towards policies where profit-seeking is prohibited in living spaces through the public role and participation of non-profit organizations.

지속가능한 국가형성을 위한 주거복지 패러다임의 전환

A necessary element for the formation of a nation is its people, who have been elevated from a “means-value” to a “humanistic value,” and as human beings, citizens must be protected by the state in terms of essential rights and values. They must also be free from state interference and obstruction in realizing these rights and values. Food, clothing, and shelter are essential for human survival. Currently, housing has become a means of accumulating wealth and a symbol of economic status and position. However, the physical space of housing is not only a place of residence but also an emotional home and the foundation of humanity. Housing cannot be left to be a means of profit-seeking or wealth accumulation. Housing policy should be a policy for all citizens, and it should be aimed at developing and maintaining a middle class of at least 80% of the population in order to ensure the sustainable and healthy development of the country. Universal housing stability should be implemented for the entire population, except for the top 10% of asset holders based on labor income. Simply enacting the “Basic Housing Act” as a law under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport would not fully address the issue of housing welfare. Housing welfare in Korea must consider housing, education, transportation, and the environment comprehensively based on a paradigm shift in housing. In the current Korean situation, education and housing policies must be connected and directed towards the right direction. In terms of climate crisis response, housing policy must establish a new direction for improving the housing environment, including transportation and reconstruction. If climate crisis is discussed but not included in housing policy, the sincerity and effectiveness of climate response policy will be undermined. Housing, workplace, and education should be based on a certain area, and mobility should be possible within the jurisdiction of the basic local government. The beginning of housing welfare is when an average wage earner can secure a residence in a place where educational conditions and social infrastructure are in place while minimizing physical and temporal distance from their workplace, which is a socially universal phenomenon. A society where ordinary workers can save a certain amount of money from their usual household expenses and use financial tools such as public loans to secure stable housing is a normal and sustainable society. Housing must not be left to become a means of accumulating wealth and a starting point for inequality. To secure stable housing, the paradigm of housing policy should shift towards policies where profit-seeking is prohibited in living spaces through the public role and participation of non-profit organizations.

A Comparative Analysis of the Grafting Efficiency of Watermelon with a Grafting Machine

The rising age of the population in rural China and the labor intensity of grafting have resulted in a decrease in the number of grafters and a subsequent increase in their wages. Manual grafting can no longer satisfy the increasing demand for watermelon-grafted transplanting; thus, machine grafting will be an effective alternative. In order to accelerate the implementation of machine grafting in China, a comparative analysis between the automatic grafting machine (model 2TJGQ-800) and traditional hand grafting was conducted. The reliability and feasibility of machine grafting were evaluated through a comprehensive evaluation of the production capacity and grafting seedling quality. This study focuses on the grafting application of watermelon plug-tray seedlings. The scion and rootstock seeds were sown on 9 November 2022. Grafting experiments using an automatic grafting machine, skilled workers, and ordinary workers were conducted with the root-pruned one-cotyledon grafting method on 24 November 2022. The results showed that the machine grafting had a high uniformity and grafting speed. The grafting speed of the grafting machine was 774 plant·h−1 and 1.65–2.55-fold higher than the hand grafting. With training, workers can improve their grafting speed, but it will still be slower than machine grafting. In addition, there was no significant difference in the grafting survival rate between the machine grafting and hand grafting. However, using machine grafting, the success rate decreased from 100% to 90.07% and the rootstock regrowth rate increased from 18.44% to 72.69%. Incomplete rootstock cutting, clip supply failure, and grafting drop failure are the three main factors that result in machine grafting failure. In conclusion, the grafting machine has advantages in terms of grafting speed and uniformity. Upon improving the accuracy of the cutting mechanism and grafting success rate, it will be adopted by commercial nurseries.

Acceptable nudge strategies to incentivize the use of wearables and physiolytics at work: A Q-methodology examination

The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the pressure on organizations to ensure health and safety in the workplace. An increasing number of organizations are considering wearables and physiolytics devices as part of their safe return to work programs so as to comply with governments’ accountability rules. As with other technologies with ambivalent use (i.e., simultaneously beneficial and harmful), the introduction of these devices in work settings is met with skepticism. In this context, nudging strategies as a way of using design, information, and other ways to manipulate behaviors (system 1 nudge) and choices (system 2 nudge) has gained traction and is often applied alongside the introduction of ambivalent technologies with the aim to “nudge” their use. While the feasibility of different nudge strategies is often studied from only a managerial perspective, where employees’ volitional autonomy and dignity is often treated as secondary, we explore which nudges are acceptable from the perspectives of ordinary workers. Using Q-methodology as a more evolutionary and participatory way to design nudges, we describe five basic strategies that are (to varying degrees) acceptable to them: (a) positive reinforcement and fun, (b) controlling the organizational environment, (c) self-responsibility, (d) collective responsibility, and (e) adapting the individual environment. Our findings show that there is a wide range of viewpoints on what is being considered an acceptable nudge and stress the importance of a transparent, equal dialogue between those who design nudges and potential nudgees.

Remembering Herbert Gutman's Work, Culture, and Society Fifty Years On

Remembering Herbert Gutman's <i>Work, Culture, and Society</i> Fifty Years On

Socio-Economic Effects of Covid-19 on Construction Sector in Turkey

The world has been living tough times both socially and economically because of the novel coronavirus. Social effects of Covid-19 have seen right after precautions taken by governments all around the world. However, precautions brought economical problems. Construction industry is also affected from this situation. To better understand the effect of Covid-19 on construction industry, questionnaire is carried out among people from construction industry. Questions are selected specifically for targeted people in construction industry. Survey is conducted electronically. Participants remained anonymous during survey. Totally 598 participants took part in questionnaire voluntarily. Survey questions are about job safety, finding a new job and precautions. Results indicated that, Covid-19 caused increase in unemployment in construction industry, making it harder to find a new job. This study proves that ordinary workers in the construction industry are the most vulnerable part for Covid -19 pandemic.

Misconceiving Merit: Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion in Academic Science and Engineering by Mary Blair-Loy and Erin Cech

Reviewed by: Misconceiving Merit: Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion in Academic Science and Engineering by Mary Blair-Loy and Erin Cech Julie R. Posselt and Gloria C. Anglón Mary Blair-Loy and Erin Cech. Misconceiving Merit: Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion in Academic Science and Engineering. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022. 232 pp. $27.50. ISBN 9780226820156. Yale professor Nicholas Christakis recently sparked a flare up on social media by challenging the rights of graduate students to unionize, tweeting, "Graduate students are primarily students and trainees, not ordinary workers. Academia is a calling." Although the view of scholarly life as a calling may be contested viz a viz unionization, sociologists Mary Blair-Loy and Erin Cech document in Misconceiving Merit: Paradoxes of Excellence and Devotion that there is indeed a widespread expectation that scholars should single-mindedly dedicate themselves to their work as if it is a vocation or spiritual calling. Even more insidious than the belief that academia is a calling is the belief that scientific excellence following from unbounded devotion to one's [End Page 410] work is pure, unbiased, and unpoliticized. These beliefs work in tandem; many assume academia is a meritocratic profession in which the most hardworking scientists are rewarded for their excellent contributions. Yet, decades of research reveal otherwise. Opportunities, rewards, and penalties vary by social identities; people are neither equally rewarded for similar efforts nor similarly penalized for deviations from devotion and excellence. The result? STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) professionals do not mirror the race, ethnicity, and gender demographics represented in the United States. U.S. white and Asian men represent 63% of the tenured or tenure-track science and engineering (S&E) positions at 4-year colleges; 18% of S&E doctoral students; 18% of S&E master's students; and 28% of full-time S&E undergraduates at 4-year colleges. In this volume, the authors pose the question, "How can a set of professions that so highly values objectivity and fairness in assessments of merit reproduce these unfair outcomes?" (p. 22). Their answer is that STEM faculty's misplaced adherence to meritocracy is filtered through two schemas (i.e., widely held, hegemonic beliefs): The work devotion schema is "a cultural mandate that defines work as a calling deserving of undivided allegiance" (p 3), while the scientific excellence schema is "a cultural yardstick that STEM academics use to measure the competence and worthiness of their colleagues" (p. 4). These schemas are "anchors of the cultural definition of merit in STEM" (p. 19), shaping the professional culture of science. STEM faculty dutifully uphold–even embrace– these beliefs. Scientists live their own lives according to unrealistic expectations around devotion to work and norms for excellence. And, importantly for the opportunity structure and inequalities within it, they judge themselves and their colleagues through these schemas, despite evidence that they uphold gender, racial/ethnic, and LGBTQ inequalities in science. Specifically, white and Asian cis-gender men are rewarded more than marginalized groups, including white women, and black and Latino men and women, for similar work. Blair-Loy and Cech arrived at these conclusions with a case-oriented methodology. They collected data in 2012 from STEM faculty at one U.S. research university, including over 500 university personnel records, surveys from approximately 250 of the people from whom they had records, and semi-structured interviews with 86 faculty who completed the survey. The authors also constructed a Scholarly Productivity Indices database of all participants by tracking the number of publications from a SCOPUS bibliographic database, as well as the number of grants awarded, dollars, and PI (principal investigator) or Co-PI designations based on university records. The authors used the survey responses to develop scales of how faculty view themselves and an idealized successful person (self-conceptions) on assertiveness, relational, and diversity promotion. The heart of the book documents the existence of these schemas and offers evidence that professionals use them to "explain away underrepresentation and divert blame for its resolution from STEM faculty and institutions" (p. 123). Critical to this argument is evidence that the schemas, while widely held, intersect with patterns of discrimination in the real world to reproduce inequalities. For...