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Meritocracy a myth?: A multilevel perspective of how social inequality accumulates through work
Dijk,Hans van Kooij,Dorien Karanika-Murray,Maria Vos,Ans De Meyer,Bertolt
Dijk,Hans van
Kooij,Dorien
Karanika-Murray,Maria
Vos,Ans De
Meyer,Bertolt
Abstract
Work plays a crucial role in rising social inequalities, which refer to unequal opportunities and rewards for different social groups. Whereas the conventional view of workplaces as meritocracies suggests that work is a conduit for social equality, we unveil the ways in which workplaces contribute to the accumulation of social inequality. In our cumulative social inequality in workplaces (CSI-W) model, we outline how initial differences in opportunities and rewards shape performance and/or subsequent opportunities and rewards, such that those who receive more initial opportunities and rewards tend to receive even more over time. These cumulative social inequality dynamics take place via nine different mechanisms spanning four different levels (individual, dyadic, network, and organizational). The CSI-W indicates that the mechanisms interact, such that the social inequality dynamics in workplaces tend to (a) exacerbate social inequalities over time, (b) legitimate social inequalities over time, and (c) manifest themselves through everyday occurrences and behaviors.
Description
Funding The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Date
2020
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Keywords
BIAS, DIVERSITY, GENDER, LIFE, ORGANIZATIONS, PATH DEPENDENCE, POWER, PSYCHOLOGY, STRENGTH, TALENT MANAGEMENT, dynamics, inclusion, meritocracy, multilevel, social inequality, workplaces, SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
Citation
Dijk, H V, Kooij, D, Karanika-Murray, M, Vos, A D & Meyer, B 2020, 'Meritocracy a myth? A multilevel perspective of how social inequality accumulates through work', Organizational Psychology Review, vol. 10, no. 3-4, pp. 240-269. https://doi.org/10.1177/2041386620930063