Academy of Management PDW: The Last Taboo: Exposing Social Class in the Workplace Evangelina Holvino...

Academy of Management PDW: “The Last Taboo: Exposing Social Class in

the Workplace” Evangelina Holvino Saturday, August 8, 2009

Sheraton Chicago, Chicago, IL

Class in Organizations: Diversity as entry,

deconstruction as end

Agenda

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The veil of class: How class is hidden

Lifting the veil of class: Models and activities for a diversity session

What class helps unveil: Class as deconstruction

Summary and Q and A

The veil of classHow class is hidden in organizations

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Class in organizations: A few numbers

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• Ratio of CEO pay to worker’s pay: 1980: 42:12007: 344:1 ($4.9 mi)

• 91% believe society should make sure everyone has EO to succeed

• The top 1% own 38.5% wealth; The richest 20% own 83.9 % of wealth. The top 1% enjoyed 2/3 of all increases in wealth.

• Ratio of highest pay to lowest pay in Mondragon4.5: 1

• 9.2 mi. families earned incomes below the poverty threshold; 40% of minority working families are low incomes earners (vs 20% of white families)

• 1980s budget & tax changes took away $20 bi. from families with incomes of $20,000 – and increased by $35 bi. incomes of families of $80,000 +.

Class “myths” and taboos

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• We live in a classless society; • Class is like a ladder; • Class is “outside” the organization; • Talking about class is “high

treason;” • Class is “different;” class is

“confusing.”

Lifting the veil of class

Educational models and activities© 2009 Chaos Management, Ltd.6

Class diversity education: An approach

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1. Personal awareness

2. Understanding class as “difference”

3. Dialogue on impact and alternatives

4. Application

The “isms” equation

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The “isms” equation

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Class: What Differences?

Economic Status Social status

Contradictory positions?

Past and current situationRace, gender and class

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Class: What Differences?(Pilver & Kish-Gephart)

Economic StatusObjective measureBased on income, education, father’s occupation, etc.Relative economic ranking

Social statusSubjective measureReflects an identity and lived

experienceRelative social ranking

A Power Relations ModelWhat are the differences that get ranked?

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The class structure in organizations

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Class in organizations: Dialogue

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What negative consequences do you identify as a result of these class differences?

- “People with a lot of experience cannot move up because of the degree requirement.”

- “The managers get a $25 Xmas bonus and workers get a dinner, which many can’t attend b/c of shift work.”

Class in organizations: Dialogue cont.

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What are some ways in which your organization can challenge class exclusions and inequities in the workplace?

- “Include support staff as members of project teams.”

- “Create a skills matrix for each function and a plan to move associates to the next level.”

Benefits of Including Class

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• Increased productivity• Better financial performance• Higher wages for workers • Reduced:

inventoryexcess labor costsspace requirements

More benefits: Seeing and doing differently

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Workers’ “resistance” as agency and resource.

Work-family balance issues are not the same.

Alliances across class differences.

Class Change Strategies

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Self-managed teams; authority where work is

Flex time, telecommuting, job sharing

Gain-sharing; employee ownership

Pay equity

Reduced salary differentials & privileges

Multiple stakeholders in decision making

More Radical Change Strategies

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Rethink management; organizations

Connect organization and society

Profile workers’ contributions and stories

Study regimes of inequality

What class helps unveil

Class as deconstruction© 2009 Chaos Management, Ltd.23

“Push back:” Burning Questions from practitioners

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Are there diagnostic tools for class?

Do we have to eliminate hierarchies?

Can we address class without using the word?

How to include those in other economic groups?

Push back; contradictions cont.

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What is the compelling “business case”?

What are the “best practices”?

What’s the role of unions?How do we manage our own class background and bias?

Deconstructing diversity:Towards an integrated agenda

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Redefining social justice in organizations

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Thank you

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Evangelina Holvino, Ed.D.178 Meetinghouse LaneBrattleboro, VT 05301

802-257-5218holvino@chaosmanagement.com