Racial Inequality and Status in Contemporary Organizations: A Supply- and Demand-Side Perspective

Among contemporary organizations that purportedly support an equal and equitable workplace, we often see mixed evidence involving employees’ own experiences, particularly those of minority individuals, in response to issues involving racial inequality, such as racial discrimination and bias, that remain persistent in the workplace. These issues also point to the relevance of status of individuals and organizations on both the supply- and demand-sides of the labor market. While studies attempt to address the consequences of such issues, further work that focuses on current and more recent efforts to address issues of racial inequality, particularly from the vantage point of individuals of minority racial groups, needs to be explored. This symposium not only aims to provide further contribution to these areas with an empirical oversight of the interplay of organizational status, diversity, and racial stratification, but it also uniquely hones in on the salience of Asian Americans as a racial group that moves beyond the scope of a traditional focus on a Black/White dichotomy that has often been the subject of relevant literature. At the end of the presentation, Matthew Bidwell, a leading scholar on status and inequality in organizations, will facilitate an interactive group discussion about these papers with the audience and presenters with key commentary. Keywords: race, inequality, status, diversity, racial stratification, labor markets Threading the Diversity Needle: Minority Group Presence and Perceptions of Organizational Status Presenter: Noah Askin; INSEAD Seeking Only the Best: How Hometown Pressures Influence (East-) Asian Americans’ Status Aspirations Presenter: Oliver Hahl; Carnegie Mellon U. - Tepper School of Business Presenter: Jenny Oh; Carnegie Mellon U. - Tepper School of Business Presenter: Trevor Daniel Young-Hyman; U. of Pittsburgh Racial Inequality in Organizational Environments Presenter: Letian Zhang; Harvard Business School Creativity Ceiling: Stereotypes and Underrepresentation of Asian Americans in Corporate Leadership Presenter: Wyatt Lee; U. of Toronto