Conceptualizing class in workplace diversity: A narrative review

How is class discussed in workplace diversity research? Class has long been central to social studies of inequality, yet its meaning remains fragmented and contested across sociology, political economy, psychology and organization studies. This creates a challenge for workplace diversity scholarship: although class is increasingly treated as an important dimension of diversity, it is often unclear whether class is being understood as an individual attribute, a lived experience, a structural position or an organizational process. This narrative review addresses this challenge by examining and organizing this fragmented body of literature. We develop a five-orientation framework: class as an unelaborated descriptor , class as haves , class as lived , class as located and classing . The framework clarifies the conceptual commitments underlying the different uses of class and shows how these choices shape what researchers see, explain and propose in relation to inequality at work. We argue that classing offers particular analytical potential as it redirects attention to organizational mechanisms of class reproduction. This review advances conceptual clarity while promoting practical parsimony for studying class, workplace diversity and inequality at work.