title: Parvenus and conflict in elite cohorts.
abstract: Previous studies find that greater workplace diversity leads to higher degrees of conflict in low and medium-status workgroups. This paper examines whether similar dynamics operate in elite cohorts. We use data from a survey of White House Fellows (N=475) to look at how the presence of parvenus-individuals from underrepresented groups in elite environments-change the rate at which fellows reported conflict with each other and with the director of the program. We find that there is no unified "parvenu experience." Analysis of the interaction between race and cohort diversity reveals inflection points consistent with Kanter's (1977) theory of tokenism, but the effects of increasing diversity diverge: for Hispanics, conflict with the director increases with diversity, while for Asians, conflict falls with diversity. While other groups' level of conflict with their peers stays roughly constant, Asians' reported level of conflict with their peers increases with diversity.
authors.affiliation: Office of the President, Gordon College, 255 Grapevine Road, Wenham, MA 01984, USA. Electronic address: president@gordon.edu.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Michael Lindsay
authors.affiliation: Stanford University, Sociology Department, MC 2047, Main Quad - 450 Serra Mall, Building 120, Room 160, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Ariela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schachter
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, City University of New York-Brooklyn College, 3612 James Hall, 2900 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, 113 McNeil Building, 3718 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Sorge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004651:Employment; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008913:Minority Groups; D011209:Power, Psychological; D044469:Racial Groups; D014481:United States
keywords: Conflict; Diversity; Elites; Social identity; Tokenism