From Individual Advancement to Structural Conditions: Reframing Leadership Development

ABSTRACT

Low‐wage workers represent a significant segment of the organizational workforce, yet they remain largely absent from leadership development research and practice. These workers routinely face barriers such as limited access to development opportunities and occupational stigma. However, leadership development research has primarily emphasized individual readiness and human capital, paying too little attention to how leadership systems shape access to development. Drawing on Scarcity Theory and Pierre Bourdieu's Theory, we argue that leadership development operates as a classed system influenced by both material constraints and cultural expectations. These dynamics disadvantage low‐wage workers whose everyday leadership contributions often go unrecognized. We contribute to human resource management scholarship by integrating social class and scarcity into leadership development research by showing how economic precarity and class‐based norms jointly shape limited access to leadership development for the low‐wage worker. The proposed conceptual model reframes leadership development as a more inclusive talent management practice capable of leveraging a broader range of organizational expertise. We conclude by outlining future research directions on how HR systems can reduce structural barriers and expand leadership pathways for low‐wage workers.