Investigating the Relationship between Ethnic Identity, Social Exchange, and Career Success for African Americans in the Workplace

Authors

Sy A. HendersonFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration

Major/Program

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First Advisor's Name

Manjul Gupta

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Mido Chang

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Amin Shoja

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Mark Thibodeau

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

Diversity and Inclusion, Career Satisfaction, Social Exchange, Ethnic Identity, African Americans

Date of Defense

6-8-2023

Abstract

This study evaluates what organizational factors influence the career satisfaction of African Americans in the workplace and whether these factors are relevant across this population. To evaluate what organizational factors influence career satisfaction, a framework was created leveraging the constructs of social exchange to evaluate the quality of relationships an individual may have across multiple levels within an organization. The constructs include an individual’s view of leader-member exchange, perceived organizational support, and mentorship. The framework also examines whether these factors are relevant across the population by understanding whether an individual’s level of ethnic identity influences the strength of these relationships. A large African American population was used to assess these factors empirically through quantitative analysis.

After completing the analysis, the results show that perceived organizational support and mentorship are factors that influence the career satisfaction of African Americans in the workplace. This is significant because of the limited research testing theories such as social exchange with large African American sample populations and the opportunities for future research in this area. Ethnic identity did not significantly influence the relationships between the constructs, and the leader-member exchange was eliminated due to significant cross-loadings.

When evaluating managerial implications, this study’s results provide insights across a variety of domains. Understanding what factors influence African Americans’ career satisfaction in the workplace could enable more focused actions and interventions to improve career counseling, employee engagement, and diversity and inclusion. By showing evidence that perceived organizational support and mentoring could lead to higher levels of career satisfaction, human resource groups, leaders, and diversity and inclusion practitioners have an additional tool to evaluate the health of their African American employees’ relationships within their organizations. This is important because to identify the right strategy, we must pinpoint the problem, and leveraging the theory and principles of social exchange could lead to more robust conversations and hopefully more impactful solutions for this population.

Identifier

FIDC011112

Recommended Citation

Henderson, Sy A., "Investigating the Relationship between Ethnic Identity, Social Exchange, and Career Success for African Americans in the Workplace" (2023). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5462.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5462