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Hidden Rules of Class at Work by Ruby K. Payne Published by aha! Process Inc. 1st (first) edition (2002) Paperback

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Paperback

First published August 14, 2002

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About the author

Ruby K. Payne

46 books61 followers
Ruby K. Payne is an American educator and author best known for her book A Framework for Understanding Poverty and her work on the culture of poverty and its relation to education. Payne received an undergraduate degree from Goshen College in 1972. She holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies from Loyola University in Illinois, and is the founder of aha! Process, Inc., a company that informs schools, companies and other organizations about poverty.

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5 stars
25 (31%)
4 stars
27 (34%)
3 stars
19 (24%)
2 stars
6 (7%)
1 star
2 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
Profile Image for Jessi.
5,515 reviews19 followers
October 18, 2021
If you are looking for a wide-ranging and grounded study and well-written book with real-life examples, this is not going to be the book. The authors aren't transparent about their research methodology, they often refer to studies but don't cite authors or provide footnotes, and the case studies provided skew narrowly toward traditional corporations, traditional personal relationships, and people working in urban, large corporations. Spirituality is acknowledged as a resource people need but the only examples given are Christianity.
There is useful material in this book (i.e. that there are unseen variables outside of work accomplished and work ethic that will, unfortunately, cause people not to get promotions in the workplace) but most of it (the book was originally written in 2002 and revised in 2016) did not age well.
Profile Image for Summer.
815 reviews16 followers
May 10, 2022
I sought this out because I love Ruby Payne. I was enjoying this book until it mentioned John Molloy's 1975 book "Dress for Success". Then I was like... wait... how old is this book? Haha, o my goodness, this is a 20 year old book! So please don't read it until they come up with a new edition. It all SEEMED perfectly fine to me but I just know it can't ALL be current. My goodness, people used typewriters at work when this was published.

I think Payne's content is still valid but when we talk about 20 year intervals of social science, I really think we need to replicate studies.
Profile Image for Jamie Pennington.
468 reviews4 followers
November 17, 2021
I have read Bridges Out of Poverty by Ruby Payne and it was an extremely good and eye opening book. I was Expecting and hoping more of the same with this book.

But I am indeed in a different place now and this book fell flat. I wound the book to be very stereotypical and boarder-line offensive even. Let’s just say the book has not aged well.
1 review
February 26, 2019
Poorly written. The book disguises race with class. The author ignores rural poverty and focuses on urban poverty. Most of the "research" is based on stereotypes.
Profile Image for Stephanie.
735 reviews
May 27, 2020
Information for employees and supervisors on social class and how it impacts the workplace
8 reviews
October 5, 2008
My mother who has been in education for over 30 years introduced me to Ruby Payne. Her work is very interesting and written in any easy to read easy to understand manner. I strongly recommend these books to anyone not just educators or public admin. They books give you better understanding of just how much socioeconomics plays a roll in who we are, how we present ourselves, and the way we perceive the world
13 reviews
August 9, 2013
It was ok. Information was pretty much what I expected and nothing really grabbed me or created any ah ha moments. Case studies were interesting. Quick read.
8 reviews
May 27, 2014
Pretty over simplified, basic information. It was the only book our library system has by Payne. I still want to read her other works, looks like amazon it is.
Profile Image for Allison.
44 reviews
Read
January 10, 2009
Very interesting, if simple, analysis of how class functions silently in our lives.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews

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