Leveling the Playing Field? Developmental Practices and Minority Representation in Professional Service Firms

• In Event: 560 - Regular Session. Race and Gender in the Professions

Abstract

Despite an extensive body of research illuminating the causes of racial and gender inequality, there is little consensus on how to design employment practices that work to reduce it. Most attention in this area has focused on programs that are targeted at women and minority employees, but employment practices that are not specifically targeted at disadvantaged groups may also make a difference. In this study, we advance knowledge about “what works” to increase diversity by investigating how organizational approaches to employee development influence the representation of three racial and ethnic minority groups in professional service firms. Using two-wave panel data on large law firms across the United States, we examine the effects of formal training, mentoring, and assignment programs, a shorter expected time to promotion, and cultural commitments to professional development and norms of early responsibility on the presence of African-Americans, Latinos, and Asian-Americans at two levels of the organizational hierarchy.

Authors

• Elizabeth H. Gorman, University of Virginia

• Fiona M. Kay, Queen's University