Black Mobility in White Corporations: Up the Corporate Ladder but out on a Limb

Abstract

More than 30 years of social and political pressure to diversify corporate personnel and management teams has resulted in more black managers but neglible gain for African American men in powerful decision-making jobs in corporate America. Against this backdrop, this paper asks if constraints on blacks' corporate progress are manufactured in the work process. Using in-depth career interviews with 76 black executives, I argue that the ability to achieve top jobs is shaped by a link between opportunity structure and human capital. The structure of black managerial achievement erodes black skills over time because of role constraints.