Examining the 'Class Ceiling' in Big Tech

该项目通过关注精英实习的申请和招聘过程来研究班级上限是否以及如何影响STEM劳动力，这是通往大科技职业生涯的关键时刻。 通过同时研究大型科技公司的招聘过程，从雇主对求职者的需求侧评估和供应侧选择以及求职者的准备，该研究将阐明塑造谁获得精英实习机会的隐藏因素。它通过调查阶级背景在招聘这些STEM工作中的作用，填补了知识基础的根本空白。 虽然假设是最小的，由于强调？客观？技术技能，试点数据表明，这些实习的招聘决定受到阶级背景的隐性标记的影响，如组织匹配，个人匹配，社交网络和沟通风格。 这些归纳性的发现激发了当前的项目，该项目将以更大的样本和更严格的混合方法设计来考察阶级背景与精英实习之间的关系。 该研究将为STEM组织提供具体的方法，以促进公平和包容的招聘实践，并使弱势申请人能够通过了解主流招聘文化的期望来驾驭招聘过程。该项目的目标是研究如何在谷歌，Facebook，微软和亚马逊等顶级科技公司获得精英研究实习机会。 研究者将探讨两个研究问题：（1）阶级背景的角色如何透过把关人评估塑造实习成就？（2）班级背景如何影响实习申请人的准备、面试表现和结果。数据将主要通过采访、观察大型科技招聘活动和实习准备研讨会、问卷调查收集。 这项研究是第一个研究如何类背景形状雇用在技术专业，扩展了我们的理解如何类形状雇用超越童年参与有组织的活动的影响，并调查如何类形状申请人？该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The project examines whether and how the class ceiling impacts the STEM workforce by focusing on the application and hiring process of elite internships, a key juncture in the path towards careers in Big Tech. By simultaneously studying the hiring process at Big Tech firms from the demand side evaluations of job applicants by employers and supply side choices and preparation of job applicants, the research will illuminate the hidden factors that shape who is offered elite internships. It fills a fundamental gap in the knowledge base by investigating the role of class background in hiring for these STEM jobs. While assumed to be minimal due to the emphasis on ?objective? technical skills, pilot data suggest hiring decisions for these internships are influenced by tacit markers of class background such as organizational fit, individual fit, social networks, and communication style. Such inductive findings motivate the current project, which will examine the relationship between class background and the attainment of elite internships with a larger sample and more rigorous mixed-methods design. The research will provide STEM organizations with concrete ways to facilitate equitable and inclusive hiring practices and enable underprivileged applicants to navigate the hiring process by equipping them with knowledge about the expectations of the dominant hiring culture.The goal of the project is to examine how class figures into the attainment of elite research internships in the top tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon. Investigators will examine two research questions: (1) How does the role of class background shape internship attainment through gatekeeper evaluations? and (2) How does class background shape internship applicant preparation, interview performance and outcomes. Data will be collected primarily through interviews, observations at Big Tech recruitment events and internship preparation seminars, questionnaires. The study is the first to study how class background shapes hiring in a technical profession, extends our understanding of how class shapes hiring beyond the influence of childhood participation in organized activities, and investigates how class shapes applicants? preparation, self-presentation, and hiring outcomes.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.