article

Free access

Race differences in job performance and career success

Authors:

Magid Igbaria,

Wayne M. WormleyAuthors Info & Claims

Communications of the ACM, Volume 38, Issue 3

Pages 82 - 92

https://doi.org/10.1145/203330.203347

Published: 01 March 1995 Publication History

PDF eReader

Abstract

Although blacks have gained entry to the information systems (IS) field and various managerial positions, they continue to experience more restricted career advancement prospects than whites. They have found it difficult to advance professionally and managerially within their organizations. Perhaps, as the management literature suggests, this is because minorities may experience considerable discrimination in their jobs that lowers their performance and ultimately impedes their career advancement [10].

References

[1]

Brown, H.G, and Ford. D.L., Jr. An exploratory analysis of discrimination in the employment of black MBA graduates, J. of Applied Psychology, 62, 1977, pp. 50-56.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[2]

Fernandez, J.P. Black Managers in White Coporations, Wiley, New York, t 975.

Google Scholar

[3]

Green, S.G. and Mitchell. T.R. Attributional processes of leaders in leader-member interactions. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 23, 1979, pp. 429-458.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[4]

Greenhaus, J.tt., Parasuraman, S. and Wormley, W.M. Race, organizational experiences, and career outcomes, Acad. of Management Journal, 33. 1, March 1990, pp 64-86.

Google Scholar

[5]

Igbaria. M. and Wormier, W. Rate effects on organizational experiences and career success among MIS managers and professionals, MIS Quar. terly, 16, 4, Dec. 1992. pp. 507-529.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[6]

Ilgen, D.R. and Youtz, M.A. Factors affecting the evaluation and development of minorities in organizations. In Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management: A Research Annual, K, Rowland and G. Ferris. Eds. JAI Press, Greenwich. Conn., 1986, pp. 307-337.

Google Scholar

[7]

Irons, E. and Moore, G.W. Black Managers in the Banking Industry, Praegev. New York, 1985.

Google Scholar

[8]

Johnson, M. Women under the glass, Camputerworld, December 3. 1990. pp. 93-95.

Google Scholar

[9]

Johnston, W.B. Workforce 2000, Work and Workers for the 21st Century, Hudson Institute, Indianapolis. Ind. 1987,

Google Scholar

[10]

Jones, E. Black managers: The dream deferred, Harvard Business Review (64:3), 1986, pp. 84-93.

Google Scholar

[11]

Kraiger, K. and Ford. J.K. A metaanalysis of ratee race effects in performance ratings, J. of Applied Psychology, 70. 1985. pp, 56-65.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[12]

Lockwood, D.L. and Sobol. M.G. IS spending survey: communications techologies dominate growth areas. J. of Systems Management. 40. Dec. 1989. pp. 13-37.

Google Scholar

[13]

London. M. and Stumpf, S.A. Managing Careers. Addison-Wesley, 1982, Reading, Mass.

Google Scholar

[14]

Martinko, M.J. and Gardner. W.L. The leader/member attribution process. Acad, of Management Review, 12. 1987, pp. 149-235,

Google Scholar

[15]

Moch, M.K, Racial ditterences in job satisfaction: testing four common explanations, J. of Apphed Psychology, 65, 1980, pp.299-306.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[16]

Morrison, A,M. and Von Glinow. M,A. Women and minorities m management, Amede, an Psychologist. 45, 2. Feh, 1990, pp. 200-208.

Google Scholar

[17]

Niederman, F. Brancheau, J.C, and Wetherbe, J.C., Information systems management issues for the 1990s, MIS Quarterly, 15, 4., 1991. pp. 475- 495.

Google Scholar

[18]

Nixon. R. Black managers in Corporate America: Alienation or Integration, National Urban League, Washington. DC 1985.

Google Scholar

[19]

Pazy, A. The persistence of pro-male bias despite ideutical information regarding causes of success, Otganizational Beh.avior and Human Decision Process, 38, 1986, pp. 366-377.

Google Scholar

[20]

Pulakos, E.D., White, L.A, Oppler, S.H. and Borman, W.C. Examination of race and sex effects on performance rafings, J. of Applied Psychology, 74, 1989, pp, 770-780.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[21]

Schein, E.H. Career Dynamics: Matching Individual and Organizational Needs, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass. 1978.

Google Scholar

[22]

Stumpf, S.A. and London, M, Capturing rater policies in evaluating candidates for promotion, Acad. of Management Journal 24, 1981. pp. 752-766

Google Scholar

[23]

Touliatos, J., Bedeian, A.G, Mossholder, K.W. and Barkmai), A.I. Jobrelated perceptions of male and female government, industrial, and public accountants, Social Behavior and Personality, 12, 1984, pp. 61-68.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[24]

Turner, J.C. Rediscovering the Social Graup: A Self Cetegorization Theory. Basil Blackwell, New York, 1987.

Google Scholar

[25]

Weiner. B., Frieze, I., Kukla, A., Reed, L., Rest. S, and Rosenbaum, R.M. Perceiving the causes of success and failure, in Attribution: Perceiving the Causes of Behavior; E.E. Jones, D,E, Kanouse. H,H. Kelley, R.E. Nisbett, S. Valins and B. Weiner. Eds. 1971, General Learning Press, Morristown, NJ, pp. 95-120.

Google Scholar

Cited By

View all

Brooks NRiemenschneider CHardgrave BO'Leary-Kelly A(2017)IT professional identity: needs, perceptions, and belongingEuropean Journal of Information Systems10.1057/ejis.2010.4820:1(87-102)Online publication date: 19-Dec-2017
https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2010.48
Moody JBeise CWoszczynski AMyers M(2016)Diversity and the Information Technology Workforce: Barriers and OpportunitiesJournal of Computer Information Systems10.1080/08874417.2003.1164753543:4(63-71)Online publication date: Feb-2016
https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2003.11647535
Brooks NHardgrave BO'Leary-Kelly AMcKinney VWilson D(2015)Identifying with the Information Technology ProfessionACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/2747544.274754646:1(8-23)Online publication date: 19-Mar-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2747544.2747546
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Race differences in job performance and career success
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing and business
    2. Management of computing and information systems
      1. Project and people management
        Project staffing

Recommendations

Organizational experiences and career success of MIS professionals and managers: an examination of race differences

The role that race plays in influencing the work experiences and career outcomes of MIS personnel has been neglected in the MIS human resource management literature to date, despite the significant demographic changes in the work force projected by the ...
Understanding Boundaryless IT Professionals: An Investigation of Personal Characteristics, Career Mobility, and Career Success
SIGMIS-CPR '21: Proceedings of the 2021 Computers and People Research Conference

Shifts in the evaluation of career success and an increase in boundary-spanning activities in the IT profession pave the way for new career models in IT. Instead of opting for a technical or managerial career in IT, more and more IT professionals follow ...
How Employee Turnover Affects Career Success and Firm Performance in China
ICEE '10: Proceedings of the 2010 International Conference on E-Business and E-Government

I discuss how employee turnover affects career success and firm performance in China. Based on the literatures the model about employee turnover, career success and firm performance is built. From the model it is found that employee turnover brings to ...

Reviews

Reviewer: John E. Martin

The research methods, references, and results of a study done to examine race differences in job performance evaluations and career outcomes in information systems are documented in this paper. Specifically, the study sought to determine whether black employees were assessed using different criteria than white employees; whether supervisors attribute job performance of blacks to different causal factors than the performance of whites; and whether race differences affect career advancement prospects and satisfaction. By researching previous studies done in this area, the authors identified 13 study variables to be used. A career development survey was then designed to collect data about these variables, and the survey was distributed to 828 employees at several companies. Analysis of the data confirmed the presence of race differences in job performance evaluations, attributions, career advancement prospects, and career satisfaction. Overall, this is a good paper. Do not read it looking for a surprise ending, because there is none. Read it for the wealth of references it contains, and for the authors' convincing analysis. The analysis and conclusion, and for that matter the whole paper, are written in nonstatistical terms. For nonstatisticians, that is refreshing.

Access critical reviews of Computing literature here

Become a reviewer for Computing Reviews.

Comments

Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

Communications of the ACM Volume 38, Issue 3

March 1995

96 pages

ISSN:0001-0782

EISSN:1557-7317

DOI:10.1145/203330

Editor:
Jacques Cohen
Brandeis Univ., Waltham, MA

Issue’s Table of Contents

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 March 1995

Published in CACM Volume 38, Issue 3

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Qualifiers

Article

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

28
Total Citations
View Citations
1,037
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)96
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)15

Reflects downloads up to 30 Jan 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all

Brooks NRiemenschneider CHardgrave BO'Leary-Kelly A(2017)IT professional identity: needs, perceptions, and belongingEuropean Journal of Information Systems10.1057/ejis.2010.4820:1(87-102)Online publication date: 19-Dec-2017
https://doi.org/10.1057/ejis.2010.48
Moody JBeise CWoszczynski AMyers M(2016)Diversity and the Information Technology Workforce: Barriers and OpportunitiesJournal of Computer Information Systems10.1080/08874417.2003.1164753543:4(63-71)Online publication date: Feb-2016
https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2003.11647535
Brooks NHardgrave BO'Leary-Kelly AMcKinney VWilson D(2015)Identifying with the Information Technology ProfessionACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/2747544.274754646:1(8-23)Online publication date: 19-Mar-2015
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2747544.2747546
Donohue R(2015)The Career Development of ParliamentariansParliamentarians’ Professional Development10.1007/978-3-319-24181-4_2(15-36)Online publication date: 10-Dec-2015
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24181-4_2
Kelley HCompeau DHiggins CParent M(2013)Advancing theory through the conceptualization and development of causal attributions for computer performance historiesACM SIGMIS Database: the DATABASE for Advances in Information Systems10.1145/2516955.251695744:3(8-33)Online publication date: 6-Aug-2013
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2516955.2516957
Yap MCukier WHolmes MHannan C(2010)Career Satisfaction: A Look behind the RacesLa satisfaction à l’égard de la carrière : un regard au-delà de la question de la raceSatisfacción profesional: observación detrás las razasRelations industrielles10.7202/045587ar65:4(584)Online publication date: 2010
https://doi.org/10.7202/045587ar
Byron R(2010)Discrimination, Complexity, and the Public/Private Sector QuestionWork and Occupations10.1177/073088841038015237:4(435-475)Online publication date: 12-Oct-2010
https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888410380152
Yap MHolmes MHannan CCukier W(2010)The relationship between diversity training, organizational commitment, and career satisfactionJournal of European Industrial Training10.1108/0309059101106120234:6(519-538)Online publication date: 27-Jul-2010
https://doi.org/10.1108/03090591011061202
Zhang LJones M(2009)Can Social Capital Enhance the Careers of IT Professionals?Information Resources Management Journal10.4018/irmj.200904010422:2(69-82)Online publication date: 1-Apr-2009
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.4018/irmj.2009040104
Johnson RStone DPhillips T(2008)Relations Among Ethnicity, Gender, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Intention to Pursue a Career in Information TechnologyJournal of Applied Social Psychology10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00336.x38:4(999-1022)Online publication date: 19-Mar-2008
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00336.x
Show More Cited By

View Options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Abstract

References

Cited By

Index Terms

Recommendations

Organizational experiences and career success of MIS professionals and managers: an examination of race differences

Understanding Boundaryless IT Professionals: An Investigation of Personal Characteristics, Career Mobility, and Career Success

How Employee Turnover Affects Career Success and Firm Performance in China

Reviews

Access critical reviews of Computing literature here

Comments

Information

Published In

Publisher

Publication History

Permissions

Check for updates

Qualifiers

Contributors

Other Metrics

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

Other Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View options

PDF

eReader

Login options

Full Access

Share

Share this Publication link

Share on social media

Affiliations