{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/139418"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/139418","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Diversity Today: Essays on Inequality in the Modern Workplace","abstract":"My dissertation seeks to contribute to our understanding of how and when organizations can achieve diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations using empirical and theoretical perspectives. In Chapter 1, I explore the question of how organizations can hire individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. Past studies highlight a combination of demand- and supply-side constraints that create a ‘thin labor market’ for candidates from underrepresented backgrounds. Drawing on data from a 20-month ethnographic study of a fast-growth technology firm (“ShopCo,” a pseudonym), I examined ShopCo’s efforts to increase representation of racial minorities in technical positions and reveal a previously unrecognized barrier to hiring racial minorities into organizations: repugnant market concerns. In Chapter 2, Basima Tewfik (coauthor) and I theorize on the relationship between microaggressions and systemic prejudice. We offer a precise definition of microaggressions at work and propose how multi-level responses (i.e., target, workgroup, and organization) to microaggressions can intensify and amplify to either inhibit or facilitate organizational progress on addressing systemic prejudice. In Chapter 3, I use data from an 18-month ethnography of a public defender agency to develop grounded theory on the role of racial and economic disenfranchisement on an advocate’s ability to successfully influence a higher-power target. 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Drawing on data from a 20-month ethnographic study of a fast-growth technology firm (“ShopCo,” a pseudonym), I examined ShopCo’s efforts to increase representation of racial minorities in technical positions and reveal a previously unrecognized barrier to hiring racial minorities into organizations: repugnant market concerns. In Chapter 2, Basima Tewfik (coauthor) and I theorize on the relationship between microaggressions and systemic prejudice. We offer a precise definition of microaggressions at work and propose how multi-level responses (i.e., target, workgroup, and organization) to microaggressions can intensify and amplify to either inhibit or facilitate organizational progress on addressing systemic prejudice. In Chapter 3, I use data from an 18-month ethnography of a public defender agency to develop grounded theory on the role of racial and economic disenfranchisement on an advocate’s ability to successfully influence a higher-power target. I found that public defenders needed to first manage the impressions of their clients – using triadic advocacy tactics designed to address the racial and economic barriers – before attempting to influence the more powerful district attorneys.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Jackson, Summer Rachel Maria"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Doctoral","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Sloan School of Management","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Kellogg, Katherine"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-06","date_published":"2021-06","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:25Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139418","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Kellogg, Katherine"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Sloan School of Management"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Jackson, Summer Rachel Maria"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2022-01-14T15:10:19Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2022-01-14T15:10:19Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2021-06"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctoral","Doctor of Philosophy"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright MIT"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/139418"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["My dissertation seeks to contribute to our understanding of how and when organizations can achieve diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations using empirical and theoretical perspectives. 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We offer a precise definition of microaggressions at work and propose how multi-level responses (i.e., target, workgroup, and organization) to microaggressions can intensify and amplify to either inhibit or facilitate organizational progress on addressing systemic prejudice. In Chapter 3, I use data from an 18-month ethnography of a public defender agency to develop grounded theory on the role of racial and economic disenfranchisement on an advocate’s ability to successfully influence a higher-power target. I found that public defenders needed to first manage the impressions of their clients – using triadic advocacy tactics designed to address the racial and economic barriers – before attempting to influence the more powerful district attorneys."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Diversity Today: Essays on Inequality in the Modern Workplace"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Kellogg, Katherine"],"dc:contributor.department":["Sloan School of Management"],"dc:creator":["Jackson, Summer Rachel Maria"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2022-01-14T15:10:19Z"],"dc:date.available":["2022-01-14T15:10:19Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2021-06"],"dc:description.abstract":["My dissertation seeks to contribute to our understanding of how and when organizations can achieve diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations using empirical and theoretical perspectives. 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