Social Class Transitioners: Their Cultural Abilities and Organizational Importance

We present a theoretical framework describing the experiences and cultural abilities of social class transitioners-those who have moved from one social class to another-in organizations. Evidence suggests that many people transition from one social class to another over their lifetime, and we do not have a framework for understanding how transitioners experience the workplace or affect their organizations. This omission is consequential because social class is a permeable and intersectional form of diversity, and those who have transitioned between social classes might accumulate cultural tools from different class contexts, making them particularly well suited to understanding and bridging class-based cultural differences within groups. We argue that the range of one's cultural understanding depends on the class distance one has traveled, the time spent in each class position, and the direction of the transition. We then articulate strategies that transitioners can use to deploy their cultural skills, the factors influencing which strategies they select, and how each strategy involves trade-offs between individual and group outcomes. We conclude by discussing the contributions of this work to the literature on social class and diversity, on culture, and on groups and teams and by suggesting future research directions.