Is Your Social Class Negatively Affecting Your Job Search?

New research offers advice on how to find a job when the odds are against you.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | March 15, 2022

A new study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology suggests that a person's social class, i.e. the manifestation of an individual's relative position within their society, can have big consequences on the success, or lack thereof, of one's job search. Specifically, the researchers point out a few of the ways people from lower social classes stumble when searching for new jobs.

To better understand this topic, I recently spoke to researcher Philip DeOrtentiis of the School of Human Resources and Labor Relations at Michigan State University. Here is a summary of our conversation.

What inspired you to investigate the topic of social class and job search, how did you study it, and what did you find?

My interest in this topic — specifically, regarding social class — comes from my personal experiences. I grew up the child of a special education teacher and custodian in New York City. The act of getting a Ph.D. and becoming a researcher was something completely foreign to me for most of my life. Growing up, I had no exposure to people in that career. When thinking about searching for an academic job as a professor, I thought of how my personal experiences might have impacted my ability to get a job. More so, how my experiences might have a different effect than those of my peers, such as a student whose parents were faculty members in the same field. Thus, the research question emerged: how does someone's social class affect their search for a job?

To address this question, my colleagues and I studied the job search process of graduating students from a major university. This sample represented a wide range of students across different demographics, undergraduate performance, and areas of study.

We found that social class plays a potentially complex role in individuals' job search.

First, it appears social class may influence key factors that allow people to engage and persist in the act of searching for employment. Specifically, belonging to a higher social class was positively related to an individual's job search self-efficacy (i.e., their beliefs that if they were to look for a job then they would be successful) and their perceptions of social support that is available to them during the job search process. Further, belonging to a higher social class was negatively related to individuals' perceptions of their financial hardship, a factor that can be both a source of stress and a motivator during the job search process.

Secondly, social class is also directly related to how intensely individuals search for a job, such that those of higher social class appeared to have more intense job searches.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, we found evidence that social class related to the success of individuals' job searching (i.e., if they accepted a position and how long it took them to find that position). Specifically, we found that this relationship was complex as different elements of social class affected the outcomes of a job search in different ways. For example, individuals who came from families whose parents earned higher incomes were more likely to have accepted a job by the end of the study than those who came from families with lower parental income. However, individuals who perceived themselves as belonging to a high social class were less likely to have accepted a position by the end of the study than those who perceived themselves as belonging to a lower social class. Thus, it appears the effects of social class differ regarding individuals' objective or actual social class and their perceptions of their own social class.

How do you define social class?

Social class is the manifestation of individuals' relative position within their society. It represents both objective and perceived differences among individuals. In other words, social class represents someone's actual place in society based on a variety of resources but also where they perceive that place to be regardless of what resources they may or may not have.

Your research talks about social class and job search behavior. How are these two concepts related?

The social class in which someone experiences throughout their life has a profound effect on many aspects of life. It influences tangible things such as our access to wealth and income but also the intangible things such as our culture, our preferences, and our access to education.

Regarding job search behavior, social class can influence not only what job search behaviors someone knows to perform but their motivation and ability to perform them.

How is social class related to employment outcomes?

We found that social class may have a complex relationship with the success of someone's job search. Moreover, different elements of social class — such as the objective (i.e., income) versus the subjective (i.e., their perceptions of their social class) — can have opposite but significant effects on someone's job search.

Does that mean that low social class job seekers will not be as efficient as job seekers from higher social classes?

In this case, the word efficiency should be unpacked a bit. Our study suggests that someone from a lower social class likely experiences a more difficult job search than someone from a higher social class. Also, when considering the direct relationship between social class and job search success (i.e., accepting a position), we find evidence that individuals from higher incomes are more likely to accept a position than those from lower social class when controlling for job search intensity. So, in situations where two individuals engage in the same intensity of job search behaviors, it seems likely that the individual from a family earning a higher income is more likely to succeed. This suggests that there is still much more left to understand regarding the role of social class in the job search process beyond the behaviors individuals perform when looking for a job.

Social class and employment are related to each other. Can this have a psychological impact on people from lower social classes?

It certainly can. People are social learners. They are affected by their own experiences as well as those of others around them. If most of the people someone knows are having success (or a lack of success) in finding employment, then this can possibly impact how that person approaches their own job search.

How should organizations keep social class aside when hiring employees?

Most importantly, organizations should acknowledge that social class can bias the hiring process. More research is needed to truly understand and identify ways that minimize this bias. Based on this study, I suggest that organizations seek to help or provide resources to populations coming from lower social classes. By reducing any biasing influence of social class throughout the job search process, organizations may help even the playing field for applicants (and in turn, ensure that organizations are getting the most qualified applicants regardless of the person's social class).

What are the practical takeaways from your research for someone looking for a job?

I'd encourage anyone searching for a job to apply to any and all positions that interest them. Even if someone thinks there is no chance that they would get selected (which is where self-efficacy comes into play), I would still encourage them to apply. A job candidate will never get a job in which they do not apply.