Title: Leveraging diversity through career development: social and cultural capital among African-American managers

Authors: Trammell L. Bristol, Elizabeth J. Tisdell

Addresses: 50 E. State Street, P.O. Box 717 CC# 924, Trenton, NJ 08625, USA. ' School for Behavioral Sciences and Education, Penn State University-Harrisburg, W331 Olmsted Bldg., 777 W. Harrisburg Pike Middletown, PA 17057-44898, Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract: Leveraging diversity involves organisations drawing upon the diversity of its members to not only benefit the organisation in terms of its profit margins but also for the individual|s career experiences. The primary purpose of this article was to explore this concept further, a qualitative research study was conducted utilising a purposeful sample of 13 African-American managers who were employed in Fortune 500 companies. In-depth, structured interviews were held with these managers about their career development experiences. The findings revealed that cultural and social capital positively impacted the career development experiences of these participants. However, even with this capital, there were structures within the organisations, which negatively affected their career opportunities afforded to them.

Keywords: leverage diversity; African-American managers; career development; workplace diversity; cultural capital; social capital; career opportunities; African-Americans.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2010.033584

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2010 Vol.10 No.3, pp.224 - 238

Published online: 06 Jun 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article