This has far more to do with socioeconomic class than it has to do with ethnic group.
What is apparently invisible to the ethnic minorities quoted herein and, seemingly, the authoress, is that the very same thing happens to working class and middle class whites in upper crust law firms, corporations, and brokerages. And it has always been that way.
There are all sorts of little cultural cues that people give off which, if one is not a member of the particular "inside" class or caste are all but invisible, but if one is, are all but impossible to miss. These are not taught, but they are learned. They have to do with clothing choices, eyeglass frames, jewelry (more accurately, the lack of jewelry), verbal syntax, accent, conversational topics, interests, body language, and on and on and on. It is another form of education, and it begins very shortly after birth.
That lack is what the authoress, and her subjects, are missing but do not realize that they are missing. And at this point in their lives they are highly unlikely to be able to learn enough to be able to "pass", even in the allegedly classless American society. This, too, has always been this way. There may be tutors who are able to convey and teach theses cultural cues available - think about the character of Professor Higgins in "My Fair Lady" and you get close to the mark - but I doubt that there are very many.
Good post. I would add were not living in a Horatio Alger fable. Nepotism and incompetence abound in corporate America. As for discrimination, people are threatened by folks that are younger than them, smarter than them, look different, and so on. It's not really possible to make any sort of asessment as to if and why a paticular individual is being "held back" with out a heck of a lot more background then you're apt to find in an article like this.
Very true; probably the best bet for someone born into anything other than an upper-middle class family is to buy a book like Dress for Success and follow it to the letter (even the little things that "don't seem like a big deal" could be a killer).
BTW, what would be distinctively middle or lower-middle class eyeglass frames? Wire rims? I suppose obviously the glasses that automatically tint in the sun should be avoided at all costs.