Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine bias among White raters against racial minority women seeking employment in fitness organizations. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a 2 (applicant perceived racial identity) × 2 (applicant race) × 2 (hiring directive) factorial design experiment, with participant rater gender serving as the within-subjects variable. Adults in the USA (n=238) who had or were currently working in the fitness industry participated in the study. Findings Results indicate that applicant presumed racial identity and rater gender had direct effects, while applicant presumed racial identity, applicant race and rater gender had interactive effects, as well. Originality/value Results show that perceived racial identity affects raters’ view of job applicants, and the pattern of findings varies among racial groups.