Inequality and Diversity

1
Inequality and Diversity in Organizations

• Earlier in the semester, we talked about societal
  stratification processes
• Now we want to focus our attention on
  stratification within organizations
• how most organizations are hierarchically
  structured in ways that disadvantage those with
  less power in society (gender, race, ethnicity,
  sexual preference, etc.)

2
Historical Background

• Up until the late 1960s, most large organizations
  were run by white men and had a very high
  concentration of white men in managerial
  positions (women were secretaries, racial and
  ethnic minorities did dirty work--custodial,
  manufacturing etc.)
• Civil Rights and Feminist movements in the late
  1950s and through the 1960s began to challenge
  broader societal stratification structures,
  including those in organizations

3
Tapping the Power of Diversity

• Equal Employment Opportunity Act (part of 1964
  Civil Right Act)
• No discrimination
• Affirmative Action policies and departments in
  organizations
• Rise of Tokenism--very slow progress
• Slow to no progress led to the emergence of new
  kinds of social movements inside and outside of
  organizations to challenge organizational
  stratification systems
• This has given rise to the notion of Diversity
  Management

4
Diversity Management Rational Natural Systems
Interpretations

• From a managerialist (rational systems)
  perspective, it is argued that diversity can
  improve organizational performance
• by bringing fresh viewpoints, different
  experiences, and new knowledge, diversity has the
  potential to enliven, invigorate, and recreate
• From a conflict (natural systems) perspective,
  diversity training programs and policies offer a
  mechanism for those in power to appease different
  status groups (race, class, gender etc.) while
  retaining control over workers

5
What is Being Challenged?

• Social Similarity (Homophily)--people like those
  who are similar to them and will tend to hire,
  promote and reward those who are socially similar
• Even if minorities can break into the upper
  management ranks (formal position), it is often
  difficult to become a part of the informal social
  networks based on homophily
• As Bakers XYZ race relations example shows,
  status groups may also have divergent perceptual
  differences about organizational processes (e.g.
  hiring of black managers based on
  competence-white males 64, black males 90)

6
Comparable Worth

• Womens earnings are systematically lower than
  Mens (between 60-70 since the 1950s
• It turns out that there are many jobs that are
  predominantly female and are, therefore,
  considered female jobs (referred to as the
  gendering of work)
• E.g. Typists, Nurses, Community service workers,
  Accounting clerks etc.
• In jobs that are predominantly female, women make
  systematically less than comparable jobs that are
  done by mostly men

7
How to Challenge Extant Power Structures?

• Creation of informal networks and social
  movements within and across organizations
• e.g. black caucus at Xerox
• While it is key to form a coherent identity and
  strong network, it is equally important to
  establish ties to those in power (Kanter)
• need to balance the strength of the movement with
  more pragmatic aspects of social change
• Underrepresented minorities need to gain
  positions of higher status within the
  organization (Baker)

8
Power in Organizations

• Kanter makes a distinction between Authority and
  Power
• Authority has to do with formal positions in a
  hierarchy that gives people the right to command
• Power has to do with influence (processes and
  people beyond immediate work area), access to
  resources etc.
• E.g. first-line supervisors in highly routinized
  functions or staff positions (equal employment
  opportunity officers) often have little power

9
Gender, Power and Organizations

• Kanter argues that women in organizations have
  made some gains in obtaining positions that have
  formal authority, but they remain powerless
• While women in power are often labeled iron
  maiden, controlling or bossy, Kanter argues
  that these kinds of behaviors are influenced by
  positions of powerlessness, not because of
  gender!
• Hence, officers of lower status and advancement
  potential favor more directive, rigid and
  authoritarian techniques of leadership
• When people have more power and expect to be
  successful, milder forms of influence are used

10
Gender, Power and Organizations

• Vicious cycle--powerful authority figures who use
  coercive tactics provoke resistance and
  aggression, which prompts them to become even
  more coercive, controlling, and behaviorally
  restrictive
• The general argument is that there are gender
  stereotypes about leadership that turn out to be
  wrong when you analyze the role of power in
  organizations
• To kill this myth, however, women need to gain
  more positions of power (not just authority)
• To do this, they need to form alliances with each
  other and help each other to the top

11
Diversity Limits

• Organizations are comprised a various status
  groups (managers/workers men/women black,
  white, hispanic) who have an unequal degree of
  power
• Those that have power will often resist
  organizational changes that threaten to diminish
  their power (Acker)
• To the extent that hierarchy is correlated with
  salient status group distinctions, organizational
  hierarchy will tend to be reproduced (Acker)
• Organizations, in turn, can become battlegrounds
  for broader societal conflictsnot just rational
  tools to maximize profits