Michele Lamont Lauren Rivera Harvard University
Hiring is powerful yet understudied way in which employers shape labor market inequalities. Although a number of recent studies have demonstrated that hiring practices systematically disadvantage certain groups of applicants, such as women, ethnic minorities, and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, existing research does not adequately explore why such outcomes occur. The proposed dissertation seeks to remedy this gap by opening up the "black box" of employer hiring decisions. Specifically, the study examines how employers in three economically elite professions -- investment banking, management consulting, and corporate law -- recruit and select newly credentialed M.B.A. and J.D. hires. Drawing upon 120 interviews with employers and ethnographic observation of hiring committees in these industries, the dissertation explores the criteria of evaluation employers use to assess the merit of job applicants as well as how processes of evaluation and selection vary by profession. The dissertation provides important intellectual contributions to social science research by bringing together developments in economics, economic sociology, and organizational studies with the literature in cultural sociology to illuminate how interpersonal processes of evaluation contribute to macro-level labor market inequalities. The results of the dissertation will have implications for policy debates on employment discrimination and will contribute to a growing body of knowledge on the relationship between employment practices and diversity outcomes. In practical terms, the findings may help employers structure hiring practices in ways that reduce bias and increase diversity within organizations.
