Emilio J. Castilla

Emilio J. Castilla is a Spanish academic. After receiving his PhD from Stanford University in 2002, he taught at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2005. Since then, he has taught at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is currently the NTU Professor of Management and a Professor of Work and Organization Studies.

Castilla's research focuses on the sociological aspects of work and employment, particularly on how the concept of meritocracy is defined and used in contemporary talent management practices. He is the author of The Meritocracy Paradox: Where Talent Management Strategies Go Wrong and How to Fix Them, published in 2025 by Columbia University Press.

Education Emilio J. Castilla earned a graduate diploma from Lancaster University. He graduated from the University of Barcelona, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Career Castilla taught at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania from 2002 to 2005. and the Center on Race & Social Problems at the University of Pittsburgh.

Research Castilla has many research contributions about workplace inequality and meritocracy. In a 2010 article published in Administrative Science Quarterly with Stephen Benard, a Professor of Sociology at Indiana University, Castilla showed that when companies promoted meritocracy, managers tended to promote men at the expense of women. In a 2011 article published in the American Sociological Review, Castilla showed that, while organizational structures do lead to workplace inequality, managers also play a role in inequality regardless of performance due to their own social networks and homophily.

Castilla has also made research contributions about immigrant workers in the United States. In 2015, with Benjamin A. Rissing, Castilla showed that Hispanic immigrants to the United States were less likely than Canadian and Asian immigrants to receive work visas. To fix the bias, they suggested either auditing the process, or removing demographic details from visa applications when Homeland Security employees screen potential work visa holders.

Professor Castilla's research was featured in The Atlantic in December 2015. https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/12/meritocracy/418074/