Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sociologist Wingfield (Flatlining) delivers an authoritative study of racial inequality in the workplace. Drawing from more than a decade's worth of interviews with seven Black workers in various fields--including academia, medicine, and film--Wingfield demonstrates how the customs and practices entrenched in corporate culture perpetuate institutional racism. Referring to these "cultural, social, and relational aspects of work" as "the gray areas," Wingfield outlines four types of corporate culture (clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy) and shows the challenges presented to Black workers in each. One subject, Kevin, switched jobs, moving from a bank to a charter school, to escape the problems of one corporate culture (as a "market culture," the bank's "emphasis on avoiding tension" left him unable to express problems arising from racial differences) only to face ongoing hurdles in another (expecting a more expressive and nurturing environment, Kevin found the school's "clan culture" to be performative and exclusionary). Among other concrete solutions, Wingfield advises employers to avoid mandatory diversity trainings, which have no proven positive outcomes and sometimes provoke resentment among white employees, but to instead foster identity-based affinity groups for Black employees, which can help prevent feelings of cultural isolation at work. This vital and accessible study is a must-read for HR departments and managers, and will interest anyone concerned with workplace equality. (Oct.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
In this informative book, Wingfield (sociology, Washington Univ.; Flatlining) demonstrates how workplace environments still facilitate racial offenses and inequalities in what she calls the "gray areas" of relationships, networks, and advancement of Black workers. The book highlights the experiences, gathered through multiple interviews over an extended period, of seven Black workers from various professions: business, medicine, higher education, and gig work, to name a few. Their stories are presented in a reader-friendly fashion, absent of theoretical jargon, making the content accessible to a wider audience. Their experiences are relatable and will resonate with many readers, regardless of their race or ethnicity. Most notably, Wingfield concludes each of the three sections with a helpful summary that connects the main points to previous chapters, plus key takeaways and actionable items aimed at various roles within any given company. This transforms the text into a teaching tool to help implement recommended changes. VERDICT This title highlights the growing need for more qualitative research covering these exact types of experiences across all marginalized groups within the workforce. Both public and academic libraries will want to consider adding it to their collections.--James Rhoades
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Addressing racial inequities facing Black workers. In her latest book, sociologist Wingfield, author of Flatlining, argues that a powerful set of implicit attitudes and informal practices limits the opportunities and blights the well-being of Black Americans in the contemporary workplace. The author structures the book around analyses of seven representative figures and their experiences as Black employees who have confronted this "gray area." The experiences of Constance, a chemical engineer, teach us about the hidden prejudices lurking within science departments in academia and of a generalized reluctance among university administrators to confront systemic forms of discrimination. Via Max, who works in emergency medicine, Wingfield explores some of the challenges Black doctors face when confronting racism in the public they have pledged to serve. Through Alex, a food delivery driver, we discover how working as an independent contractor can seem to provide both autonomy and equal treatment, though the conditions of such employment may in fact obscure significant inequities. Overall, Wingfield makes a convincing case for how entrenched conventions related to hiring, networking, and promotion produce substantial--and often invisible or disguised--barriers in the workplace. "Key aspects of work--from getting a job and establishing workplace norms to advancement and mobility--were not built with Black people in mind," she writes. Wingfield's discussion of the evolving dynamics of gig work, and of the sometimes false promises of supposedly progressive environments such as universities, is especially compelling. Also useful is her series of practical suggestions on how workplaces might be restructured to eliminate or mitigate some of the injustices that currently exist. Though the focus on Black workers helps give the author's argument clarity, an extended consideration of how discrimination impacts other nonwhite groups in the workplace might have been illuminating. An informed, incisive consideration of how racial biases at work could be overcome. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
