Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • April 2023
  • Article
  • American Sociological Review

Racial Inequality in Work Environments

By: Letian Zhang
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:12
ShareBar

Abstract

This article explores racial stratification in work environments. Inequality scholars have long identified racial disparities in wage and occupational attainment, but workers’ careers and well-being are also shaped by elements of their work environment, including firm culture, managerial style, and work-life balance. I theorize two processes that could lead to racial inequality in firms’ work environments: (1) employee sorting due to exclusionary practices, and (2) spillover from racial differences in occupation and geographic location. To test this, I gathered a unique firm-level dataset composed of one million employee reviews, covering most large and medium-sized firms in the United States. I show that firms with more Black employees score lower for managerial quality, firm culture, and work-life balance, and firms with more Asian employees score higher on these dimensions. However, Asian employees’ advantage disappears when controlling for occupation, industry, and geography, whereas Black employees’ disadvantage persists, suggesting that the process of firm-level employee sorting is at work. Consistent with this, I find that Black employees’ disadvantage is strongest in areas with more conservative racial attitudes and more prevalent workplace racial discrimination. I then replicated the main findings using two entirely different data sources. Together, these results underscore racial inequality in work environments, an overlooked but important dimension of workplace inequality.

Keywords

Discrimination; Race; Equality and Inequality; Working Conditions; Personal Development and Career; Organizational Culture

Citation

Zhang, Letian. "Racial Inequality in Work Environments." American Sociological Review 88, no. 2 (April 2023): 252–283.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now
  • Purchase

More from the Author

    • June 2025
    • Faculty Research

    TK Group: Expanding the Global Factory?

    By: Letian Zhang, Wenjie Ma and Jingshu Zhang
    • June 2025
    • Faculty Research

    UBTECH: AI-Driven Humanoid Robots

    By: Qi Li, Bohui Zhang and Letian Zhang
    • June 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Waterdrop: AI-Powered Insurance and Healthcare

    By: Qi Li, Letian Zhang, Qi Zhou and Qingyi He
More from the Author
  • TK Group: Expanding the Global Factory? By: Letian Zhang, Wenjie Ma and Jingshu Zhang
  • UBTECH: AI-Driven Humanoid Robots By: Qi Li, Bohui Zhang and Letian Zhang
  • Waterdrop: AI-Powered Insurance and Healthcare By: Qi Li, Letian Zhang, Qi Zhou and Qingyi He
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.