As gatekeepers and policymakers, managers are central to labor market inequality. Managerial positions are a scarce resource, unequally distributed. However, much less frequently studied is how managers themselves affect the relative status of their subordinates. We address this question by examining the association between managerial composition and inequality among nonmanagerial workers. We use data on specific organizations over time from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a national sample of U.S. workers from the 2000 U.S. Census.
The exclusion of members of subordinate groups from positions of authority is known to be an important part of labor market inequality. We shift the focus by asking whether the presence of members of subordinate groups in positions of authority brings benefits to those who are in nonmanagerial positions. Our perspective is unique, explicitly considering the social context within which the relevant actors are found: the organizational establishment, the industry, and the local labor market. Our research also contributes to a much more general sociological question: What are the connections between members of subordinate groups across the boundaries of social hierarchies?
Our analysis will feature statistical models of trajectories of occupational segregation among establishments, using longitudinal data, and population-based analysis of wage inequality among workers in the U.S. Census. Both our longitudinal analysis of individual establishments and our cross-sectional analysis of population-based relationships explicitly take into account contextual dynamics using appropriate statistical methods.
Broader impact. We address issues relevant to pressing policy problems. Who holds management positions has been a persistent question since the introduction of affirmative action and subsequent "glass ceiling" investigations. However, despite widespread assumptions, there is almost no direct research on the effects for others of the race/ethnic and gender permeability of management. If female and minority managers are associated with lower levels of inequality among their subordinates, then affirmative action may emerge as beneficial to a wider population of workers. However, if there are no benefits for nonmanagerial workers, then more efforts at nonmanagerial levels may be called for. These include anti-discrimination legislation and enforcement, or policies to promote equal pay for comparable work.
This project also aims explicitly at developing future research capacity. We will train graduate students in the knowledge and practices associated with this research; these students will be active research partners, developing their own ideas and projects. We will produce datasets, measures and statistical procedures that can be used to study a wider array of questions.
