Race in the Middle: Exploring the Impacts of Managerial Differences on Organizational Performance

Abstract

Public administration studies often fail to address the role of middle management in organizations. On the whole, most scholarship focuses on either top-level or street-level bureaucrats while the saliency of racial identity for management practices is an understudied phenomenon. Bridging the literatures on race in public administration and middle management, we argue that race is a significant component of managerial strategy. Utilizing a large-N dataset of school administrators, this analysis seeks to assess whether differences exist among mid-level managers. Specifically, this study addresses two questions. First, in what ways does middle manager strategy differ by race? Second, if such differences exist, how do they affect organizational performance? Preliminary findings suggest variation in management styles and policy preferences across racial groups. Moreover, race acts as a correlate of administrative and strategy choices, yet the overall impacts of these differential practices are mixed.