Black workers in Silicon Valley

Macro and Micro Boundaries

Bibliographic Data

ID2148554
AuthorsRebecca C Franklin (0009-0007-7054-0685, Department of Sociology, University of California, San Diego, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume45
Issue1
Pages69-89
Publication date2022-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnic and Racial Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0141-9870 • E-ISSN: 1466-4356
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01419870.2020.1866208
OpenAlexW3127230640
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited41

Black workers are the least represented minority group in the Silicon Valley high-tech workforce, constituting only 2% of the workforce at many of the top firms. Using data from an interview-based study at one demographically representative firm, I examine the formation of inter-racial collegial relationships between Black workers and their non-Black counterparts, relationships that are pivotal for job ascension, advancement and professional trajectory. Drawing upon boundary theory, I separate out what I refer to as macro and micro boundaries. The former designates socially imposed large group divisions, such as the Black/non-Black symbolic boundary that excludes Black workers at the firm. The latter are individually asserted social identities, derived from hobbies, sports or other interests. Applied empirically, these frameworks reveal the relational labour that Black workers engaged in when forming alliances in the effort to confront the exclusionary Black/non-Black macro boundary in the high-tech workplace

Black box · Black male · Boundary (topology · Entrepreneurship · Macro · Political science · Race (biology · Silicon valley · Sociology · Workforce · Computer Science · Employment and Welfare Studies · Gender Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Mathematics · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

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