An exploration of social class: Its symbols and influence on the selection process and career success

Abstract

With a shrinking middle-class population, and an increasing economic divide between the haves and haves not, social class within the United States has become an important topic of conversation in the popular press. Yet, the diversity research in the management literature has largely focused on factors such as race and gender, while the implications of social class for work-related outcomes has remained largely unexplored. In this dissertation, I address this gap by exploring the role of social class in a person’s career across three essays. The first essay is a qualitative study in which I identify the signs and perceptions of social class. The results of Essay 1 inform the second essay, a between-subjects experimental design which tests the influence of social class on hiring recommendations in the selection process. For the third essay, a longitudinal study is conducted, which examines the relationship between social class and career success over time.