confusion and a lack of certainty she can affect the outcome. Being denied promotion has been disappointing and confusing. She has received irrelevant and conflicting feedback, and concluded micropractices associated with the formal process ‘can really work against valuing diversity’. Gina wondered if there was a ‘potential gender aspect’ in the decision not to promote her. Shoulder-tapping is much less significant than performance and achievements. She always tries hard to achieve promotions – being selfconscious about everything from her accent to her leadership track record, the need for ‘gravitas’. She is aware there is a gendered, even a class dimension, to shoulder-tapping. When it comes to mentoring, the support Gina receives has a light-touch – encouragement and boosting confidence rather than writing papers together. Gina has challenged unfair practices when she has come across them. A SOLO PURSUIT Eric, a black British man, has experienced his career as an endeavour undertaken without network support – a solo pursuit. He says: “The first decade after I finished my PhD, I think I would and I should have achieved a lot more in terms of research projects and publications, with a little bit of help, not even a massive amount, but a bit more help.” Eric came up against institutional barriers, feels he has been doing things against the odds, rather than being nurtured, developed or mentored. PERPETUATED INEQUALITIES Our interviews show inequalities perpetuated through cumulative and simultaneous micro-practices of gendered and racialised disadvantage faced by women and members of ethnic minorities, combined with the privilege experienced by white British men in their particularly favourable or unproblematic practices. Compared to white British men, the careers of women and individuals from ethnic minorities in our study tended to progress more slowly. For women and minorities, promotion is gained through formal recruitment processes, not shoulder-tapping or the efforts of a sponsor. Being a white British man gives an individual a particularly strong advantage in terms of getting involved in and benefiting from professional networks and relationships. White Britishmen do not question themselves, give fewer examples where they challenge unfair practices, and very few examples of being undermined. Their rewards are greater, come sooner, and in a less onerous manner. While they experience setbacks, they are not as frequent as among women and members of ethnic minorities. By contrast, the range of overt and subtle micro-practices of disadvantage experienced by members of minority groups results in self-narratives with a strong element of both selfquestioning and being undermined. TIME FOR CHANGE All those we spoke to hold positions which arguably give them the power to challenge organisational inequalities. But we found members of the dominant group, white British men, find it particularly difficult – even impossible – to ‘name and challenge’ inequality and exclusion. There could be different reasons for this inaction. Challenging practices could undermine their own positions; it might involve standing up against other white British men, including those whose patronage has proved beneficial previously; there might be a lack of skill in spotting such practices. On the other hand, the greater likelihood to challenge these practices by those in minority groups might be because, for a long time, members of under-represented groups have had to fight to be heard and treated equally, and as such they have developed the skills to challenge gendered or racialised injustices. In business schools – and all evidence suggest this holds true across other organisations – we must develop wider knowledge, empathy, skills and confidence – in particular among the dominant group – to understand how and why to intervene, and feel the need to do so. Support and training can equip people with the necessary skills, courage and sense of urgency. We must all commit to a cultural shift whereby micro-practices of privilege – such as promotion through shouldertapping – lose their legitimacy. Members of the dominant group can decline promotion offers outside formal processes; safe spaces can be created to discuss and challenge gendered and racialised privilege; and specific solutions can be developed. Cultural changes require a special commitment from leaders: to become open to reflecting on and changing their own ways, and to act as rolemodels. Business school leaders can commit to positive cultural changes, but it must be a collective effort to become more skilled in acting if change is to occur. FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 37 Professor Katy Mason is the Associate Dean for Research in Lancaster University Management School, and a Professor of Markets, Marketing and Management in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy. This article is based on research included in the paper “That’s bang out of order, mate!”: Gendered and racializedmicro-practices of disadvantage and privilege in UK business schools, by Professor Martyna Śliwa, of Durham University; Dr Lisi Gordon, of the University of Dundee; Professor Katy Mason, of Lancaster University; and Professor Nic Beech, of Middlesex University. It is published in Gender, Work and Organization. The research was funded by the British Academy of Management. k.j.mason@lancaster.ac.uk
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