Nancy DiTomaso

Nancy DiTomaso, professor of organization management at Rutgers University, will write a book examining the reasons why many white Americans do not see the contradiction between the persistence of racial inequality in the U.S. and their belief in the existence of equal opportunity. With previous support from Russell Sage, DiTomaso found that white Americans disavow racism and believe that discrimination no longer holds back black Americans. At the same time whites believe that their own achievements have been earned through hard work, despite acknowledging financial help from their families and assistance from friends to obtain jobs. DiTomaso's work thus examines an apparent paradox in which white Americans believe in equal opportunity but are blind to their own group-based advantages.