 Developmental Practices, Organizational Culture, and Minority Representation in Organizational LeadershipFiona M. Kay and Elizabeth H. Gorman The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 2012, vol. 639, issue 1, 91-113 Abstract: Explanations of minority underrepresentation among organizational managers have focused primarily on either employee deficits in human and social capital or employer discrimination. To date, research has paid little attention to the role of developmental practices and related cultural values within organizations. Using data on large U.S. law firms, the authors investigate the role of formal developmental practices and cultural values in the representation of three minority groups among firm partners: African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans. The authors find that formal practices and cultural values intended to aid employee growth and development do not “level the playing field†for minorities. Formal training and mentoring programs do not increase minority presence, while a longer time period to promotion, a cultural commitment to professional development, and a cultural norm of early responsibility are all negatively associated with minority representation. Although the pattern is broadly similar across all three groups, some effects vary in interesting ways. Keywords: lawyers; promotion; race; organizational culture; law firms (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:anname:v:639:y:2012:i:1:p:91-113 Access Statistics for this article More articles in The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |
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