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，考察了阶层上限是否以及如何影响STEM劳动力，这是通往大型技术公司职业道路的关键节点。通过同时研究大型科技公司的招聘流程，从雇主对求职者的需求侧评估，以及供给侧对求职者的选择和准备，这项研究将揭示决定谁能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工作中的作用来填补知识库中的一个根本空白。而假设是最小的，因为强调了？目标？在专业技能方面，试点数据显示，这些实习岗位的招聘决定受到组织契合度、个人契合度、社交网络和沟通风格等阶层背景默示指标的影响。这些归纳的发现推动了当前的项目，该项目将通过更大的样本和更严格的混合方法设计来研究班级背景和精英实习成就之间的关系。这项研究将为STEM组织提供具体的方法，以促进公平和包容的招聘做法，并通过向贫困申请者提供对主导招聘文化的期望的知识，使他们能够顺利通过招聘过程。该项目的目标是研究阶层因素如何影响谷歌、Facebook、微软和亚马逊等顶级科技公司获得精英研究实习机会。研究人员将考察两个研究问题：(1)班级背景如何通过看门人评估影响实习成就？(2)班级背景如何影响实习申请者的准备、面试表现和结果。数据将主要通过访谈、在大型科技公司招聘活动中的观察、实习准备研讨会和问卷调查来收集。这项研究首次研究了班级背景如何影响技术专业的招聘，拓展了我们对班级如何影响招聘的理解，超越了童年参与有组织活动的影响，并调查了班级如何影响申请者？这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.