Idea in Brief

The Problem

A person’s social class origins leave a cultural imprint that has a lasting effect. U.S. workers from lower social-class origins are 32% less likely to become managers than people from higher social-class origins.

The Prevalence

This disadvantage is even greater than that experienced by women compared with men (27%) or Blacks compared with whites (25%). And it prevails in every major economy in the world.

The Solution

To combat social class disadvantage, companies should add social class to diversity goals, avoid degree inflation, promote candidates from all departments, and build a cohesive organizational culture.

I once had a student in my executive education class, a managing director at a global bank, who told a heartrending story of her first steps toward professional success. As a teenager she had become a mother, and to make ends meet she’d worked cleaning offices. Even though she was dealing with substantial hardship at home—caring for a young child while defending against an abusive partner—she always brought a spark to her work, and soon she caught the attention of a manager at the bank. Sensing her potential, the manager encouraged her to apply for an entry-level white-collar job at the bank and to pursue training in finance—developmental steps that won her admission into the bank’s professional ranks and then allowed her to start rising up the managerial ladder. By the time she and I met, she held a top job negotiating massive debt deals and was working alongside colleagues who had started in positions right out of elite universities. The work she was doing required grit, courage, and a deep human understanding—qualities that I venture are more common among the stars of custodial crews than among the middling members of junior-analyst groups hired each year out of universities.

A version of this article appeared in the January–February 2021 issue of Harvard Business Review.