Career Success and Minority Status: A Review and Conceptual Framework

In recent years, the management field has witnessed a surge in studies examining career success among workers from historically marginalized minority groups. However, to date, insights gained from this research remain fragmented and have not been integrated into the existing career success frameworks. We aim to complement career success scholarship and contribute to its inclusivity by conducting a systematic review that synthesizes the factors and pathways contributing to the career success of four historically underrepresented minority groups: women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community. Evidencing that career success disparity can be attributed to minority status, we propose a framework that highlights the career advancement and human and psychological resources associated with minority groups’ career success, as well as the systemic barriers limiting access to and use of such resources. We suggest hypervisibility, invisibility, and managed visibility as distinguishable forms of identity-based mechanisms that offer theoretical explanations for the influence of marginalized identity status on career success. Our framework integrates manifestations of subjective career success—accounting for survival, the collective good, and adjustability in addition to what extant literature has shown—emphasizing that membership in marginalized groups, communities, and other identity-relevant contexts shapes the subjective meaning of career success. Our review has practical implications for decision makers and organizations intending to bridge minority and nonminority groups’ career success disparity.