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Intersectional identities and career progression in retail: The experiences of minority‐ethnic women

Kele, Juliet Elizabeth; Cassell, Catherine; Ford, Jacqueline; Watson, Kathryn

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Authors

Juliet Elizabeth Kele

Catherine Cassell

Kathryn Watson



Abstract

Contributing to scholarship on diversity and inclusion (D&I) and careers within UK retailing, this paper documents the lived experiences of minority-ethnic women working in retail. Given the extensive research on both the career obstacles faced by women in a highly feminized sector and the disadvantages experienced by minority-ethnic workers in the UK labor market more broadly, consideration of social identity categories beyond gender and their impact on retailing careers in the existing literature is limited. Here we use intersectionality theory to explain how individual-level identity categories, such as gender, ethnicity and religion, intersect with wider organisational practices, which disadvantage the career progression of minority-ethnic women in UK retail. In a service-driven sector dependent upon consumers, we conclude that there is a need to consider intersectional identity experiences and power relations within the customer-employee relationship, as this disproportionately affects minority-ethnic women and the realization of their career goals in retail.

Citation

Kele, J. E., Cassell, C., Ford, J., & Watson, K. (2022). Intersectional identities and career progression in retail: The experiences of minority‐ethnic women. Gender, Work and Organization, 29(4), 1178-1198. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12830

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 27, 2022
Online Publication Date Mar 25, 2022
Publication Date 2022-07
Deposit Date May 31, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Gender, Work & Organization
Print ISSN 0968-6673
Electronic ISSN 1468-0432
Publisher Wiley
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 29
Issue 4
Pages 1178-1198
DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12830
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1203326

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Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Copyright Statement
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.





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