The Organizational Reproduction of Inequality

Abstract

With societal inequalities continuing to increase and organizations providing the vast majority of people with their income, we wanted to assess the ways in which organizational practices are implicated in the burgeoning of social and economic inequality. Following an integrative review of the literature drawn from across the social sciences, we found that the multiple ways in which five major organizational practices-hiring, role allocation, promotion, compensation and structuring-are enacted emerged as being central to the reproduction of inequality. We also uncovered how the persistence of these practices, and the inequality they induce, can be largely attributed to a constellation of three highly institutionalized myths, efficiency, meritocracy and positive globalization. Our analysis further reveals how, as scholars, we bear a corresponding responsibility to reconsider how we engage in research on and teaching about organizations. The implications of this for our future work are discussed.

Caste and Organization Studies: Our Silence Makes Us Complicit

“…In this essay, we argue that caste is not only a social evil, but it is also a deeply-rooted, embodied and sacred institution that influences organizations and the workplace around the world. Yet, the field of organizational studies has paid scant attention to the caste system, despite having a long and vibrant research tradition on discrimination rooted in demographic characteristics, such as gender, race and class (Amis, Mair & Munir, 2020), and a growing body of research on the Indian subcontinent and its diaspora. We argue that when we, as organizational scholars, ignore caste we are complicit in the dehumanizing and disappearing of hundreds of millions of lower caste people around the world.…”

Financial inadequacy and the disadvantageous changes in time perspective and goal‐striving strategies throughout life

“…In this study, we test these relationships over a longer period, extending theory on resource scarcity and motivation to a broader time span. In doing so, our findings will offer insight into the worker poverty trap and economic inequality (Amis, Mair, & Munir, 2020; Laajaj, 2017). Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual model among our core constructs.…”

Sociability Closure and Gender Inequalities in Earnings, Promotions and Job Tenure

“…The processes of gender stratification that take place (partially) outside of jobs and organizations also provide mechanisms by which sociability can disadvantage women. Employers traditionally have favored full-time workers who are able to work long hours with few outside commitments (Acker 1990;Amis, Mair, and Munir 2019), and the increasingly common expectation that workers socialize with each other creates additional time pressures (Dumas and Sanchez-Burks 2015).…”