Academy of Management PDW: The Last Taboo: Exposing Social Class in the Workplace Evangelina Holvino Saturday, August 8, 2009 Sheraton Chicago, Chicago,

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

© 2009 Chaos Management , Ltd.2

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

© 2009 Chaos Management , Ltd.3

Class in organizations: A few numbers

© 2009 Chaos Management, Ltd.4

• 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


• 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


1. Personal awareness

2. Understanding class as “difference”

3. Dialogue on impact and alternatives

4. Application

The “isms” equation


The “isms” equation



Class: What Differences?

Economic Status Social status

Contradictory positions?

Past and current situationRace, gender and class


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?


The class structure in organizations





Class in organizations: Dialogue


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.


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


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

inventoryexcess labor costsspace requirements

More benefits: Seeing and doing differently


Workers’ “resistance” as agency and resource.

Work-family balance issues are not the same.

Alliances across class differences.

Class Change Strategies


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


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


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.


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


Redefining social justice in organizations


Thank you


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

[email protected]

Documents

Academy of Management PDW: The Last Taboo: Exposing Social Class in the Workplace Evangelina Holvino Saturday, August 8, 2009 Sheraton Chicago, Chicago,