Pedigree
How Elite Students Get Elite Jobs
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
How social class determines who lands the best jobs
Americans are taught to believe that upward mobility is possible for anyone who is willing to work hard, regardless of their social status, yet it is often those from affluent backgrounds who land the best jobs. Pedigree takes readers behind the closed doors of top-tier investment banks, consulting firms, and law firms to reveal the truth about who really gets hired for the nation's highest-paying entry-level jobs, who doesn’t, and why.
Drawing on scores of in-depth interviews as well as firsthand observation of hiring practices at some of America’s most prestigious firms, Lauren Rivera shows how, at every step of the hiring process, the ways that employers define and evaluate merit are strongly skewed to favor job applicants from economically privileged backgrounds. She reveals how decision makers draw from ideas about talent—what it is, what best signals it, and who does (and does not) have it—that are deeply rooted in social class. Displaying the "right stuff" that elite employers are looking for entails considerable amounts of economic, social, and cultural resources on the part of the applicants and their parents.
Challenging our most cherished beliefs about college as a great equalizer and the job market as a level playing field, Pedigree exposes the class biases built into American notions about the best and the brightest, and shows how social status plays a significant role in determining who reaches the top of the economic ladder.
Customer Reviews
An on point insight into how the meritocracy is as satirical as its origin suggests
This sociological and research backed exploration of how and why the elite become and remain elite is a treasure trove for anyone interested in how western society is becoming more unequal and stratified. The authors explanations and descriptions are so rich that you can see yourself in the rooms where decisions are made. However, the real treasures are the quotes from insiders that lay bare the thought process behind considering and selecting at the highest level.
I implore you to go through the chapters and think about your own experience with gaining admission to schools and employment. Relive the interactions that make you think someone was smart, fake, or savvy. This book will take you on a trip down memory lane to see how elite you may be