What Managers Everywhere Must Know About Caste

Hari Bapuji, Kamini Gupta, Snehanjali Chrispal, and Thomas Roulet

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AS GLOBALIZATION AND WORKFORCE mobility make many organizations more multicultural, managers find themselves having to broaden their understanding of workplace discrimination’s possible forms. In particular, issues of bias related to caste identity are making headlines around the world more frequently, and maintaining a healthy and productive culture will require leaders to be able to identify, prevent, and mitigate caste-based discrimination.

The caste system is a sociocultural-economic hierarchy that is pervasive in South Asia and the sizable South Asian diaspora all over the world. An individual’s caste, inherited from their father, is determined solely by their birth and is unchangeable. Numerous incidents of caste-based bias in Silicon Valley and elsewhere have been documented in the media. Studies conducted by academics, governments, and advocacy organizations have found that caste discrimination is prevalent in countries with significant South Asian populations, including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia.¹

Within South Asia, which is home to a quarter of the world’s population, caste bias can have disastrous consequences for individuals and organizations. For example, in June 2023, Vivek Raj, an employee of Indian fashion retailer Lifestyle International, died by suicide after recording a statement alleging workplace caste discrimination. In another case, Indian food delivery company Zomato faced public backlash for a 2023 advertisement that reinforced derogatory caste stereotypes.