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(Not) bringing your whole self to work: The gendered experience of upward mobility in the UK Civil Service

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  • Sam Friedman

Abstract

Women from working‐class backgrounds face a multiplicative earnings penalty in Britain's elite occupations. In this paper, I explore one driver of this “double disadvantage”; a strong gender divide in who discusses and displays a working‐class identity in the workplace. Drawing on data from the 2019 UK Civil Service People Survey (n = 300,788) and 104 interviews with civil servants, I find that men from working‐class backgrounds are more likely (than women) to identify as coming from a working‐class background, to talk openly about their background, and to feel comfortable displaying embodied markers of their origin. For some men such “origin talk” can even confer advantage, allowing them to resist dominant behavioral codes or “brand” themselves as senior leaders with a unique perspective. In contrast, women from working‐class backgrounds overwhelmingly choose to conceal their backgrounds at work, presuming that such disclosures will only leave them vulnerable to negative judgment. Such suppression often leaves a significant emotional imprint, with many women reporting a lingering sense of shame and inferiority. It can also have implications for their careers; feeling unable to inhabit one's “authentic self” at work often elicits a sense of withdrawal and self‐elimination from the stakes of career progression.

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  • Sam Friedman, 2022. "(Not) bringing your whole self to work: The gendered experience of upward mobility in the UK Civil Service," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 502-519, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:2:p:502-519
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12776
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Natasha Slutskaya & Ruth Simpson & Jason Hughes & Alexander Simpson & Selçuk Uygur, 2016. "Masculinity and Class in the Context of Dirty Work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 165-182, March.
    2. Mike Savage, 2007. "Changing Social Class Identities in Post-War Britain: Perspectives from Mass-Observation," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 12(3), pages 14-26, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Friedman, Sam, 2022. "Climbing the velvet drainpipe: class background and career progression within the UK Civil Service," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117861, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Valerie Stead & Sharon Mavin & Carole Elliott, 2024. "Angela Rayner (Member of Parliament) and the “Basic Instinct Ploy”: Intersectional misrecognition of women leaders' legitimacy, productive resistance and flexing (patriarchal) discourse," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 152-170, January.
    3. Lilith A. Whiley & Ashley Wright & Sarah E. Stutterheim & Gina Grandy, 2023. "“A part of being a woman, really”: Menopause at work as “dirty” femininity," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(3), pages 897-916, May.
    4. Ashley, Louise & Boussebaa, Mehdi & Friedman, Sam & Harrington, Brooke & Heusinkveld, Stefan & Gustafsson, Stefanie & Muzio, Daniel, 2023. "Professions and inequality: challenges, controversies, and opportunities," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119522, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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