7.8. THE STATUS OF MINORITIES IN WORK GROUPS

There is strong evidence that minorities in a workplace do not get an equal share of the resources of the group. For example, in most countries, women get paid less than men, even when they do very similar work. One of the factors that seems responsible in part for such discrepancies is that minorities are less likely to have a mentor in the work group.

Mentoring is useful in the socialization of new employees, but it can also function as an elitist patron system that excludes the socially different. Mentoring offers opportunities for role modeling, acceptance by the work group, counseling, and friendship. Mentors provide invaluable inside information. Promotions often depend on knowing the right people and the subtle standard operating procedures for getting things done in the workplace that are not part of the instructions that one gets when joining the work group.

Many minorities find it difficult to find mentors, either because there are no members of their group in the workplace when they join the organization or because the potential mentors are already guiding many other members of the group and do not have the time to help them. Also, women often find it difficult to have male mentors because some males feel embarrassed about developing a close relationship with females that might be misinterpreted by spouses and others.

Similar to the problems of mentoring are problems of networking. Nontraditional employees often are excluded from networks and discussions that occur in clubs, golf courses, and other settings, where only white males get together. Some studies found that men use networks for both work-related matters and entertainment, while women use other women for entertainment and relate to men only on job-related matters. That means that women have less strong ties with male networks.