At the doorstep to employment: Discrimination against immigrants as a function of applicant ethnicity, job type, and raters' prejudice

Abstract

This study examined the impact of applicant ethnicity, job type, and prejudice on evaluation biases and intentions to interview in an experimental simulation. We suggest that bias and discrimination are more likely when foreign applicants who belong to disliked ethnic groups apply for jobs that require high interpersonal skills, and when raters are prejudiced against immigrants. Subjects were Swiss university students who evaluated Swiss, Spanish, and Kosovo Albanian fictitious applicants. Foreign applicants were second‐generation immigrants, i.e., Swiss‐born descendants of immigrants. Thus, all applicants had similar schooling and language proficiencies but differed with respect to ethnicity. As predicted, discrimination was only observed for members of the disliked ethnic group (Kosovo Albanian) and not for members of the well‐accepted group (Spanish). Moreover, this discrimination was only apparent when applying for a job requiring high interpersonal skills and not when applying for a job requiring high technical skills. Symbolic prejudice towards second‐generation immigrants interacted with applicant ethnicity and job type to affect evaluations of foreign applicants: Persons high in symbolic prejudice devalued foreign applicants belonging to the disliked group but only when applying for a job requiring high interpersonal skills. Overt prejudice was unrelated to evaluations and intentions to interview. These results suggest that discrimination against immigrants is highly specific, targeting only members of certain ethnic groups who apply for certain types of jobs. Moreover, evaluation biases may be more apparent in raters who are prejudiced. Thus, our results support the notion that discrimination for employment results from a complex interaction between characteristics of the applicant, the job, and the rater.

International Perspectives on the Legal Environment for Selection

“…The four largest immigrant groups are people from ex-Yugoslavia, Italians, Portuguese, and Germans. The first group has come to Switzerland comparatively recently (mainly in the 1990s) and probably faces the most discrimination (e.g., Krings & Olivares, 2007). Of further note are the extensive naturalization requirements and procedures.…”

Are Ethical Codes of Conduct Toothless Tigers for Dealing with Employment Discrimination?

“…Frazer and Wiersma (2001) showed that Black candidates were evaluated less positively than White candidates after the interview had been conducted. Also, field (Bertrand and Mullainathan, 2004) and laboratory experiments (Krings and Olivares, 2007) show that majority candidates have higher chances to access and continue the hiring procedure than minority candidates. The discrepancies in results suggest that discrimination depends on additional factors, i.e., factors that moderate the extent of bias against minority candidates.…”

Les inégalités « ethnoraciales » dans l’accès à l’emploi à Montréal : le poids de la discrimination1

“…Ces deux secteurs d'emploi sont ceux pour lesquels les fonctions requises par le poste se caractérisent principalement par un service offert, non pas aux clients (marketing, communications et service à la clientèle), mais plutôt à d'autres employés ou membres du personnel de gestion au sein de l'organisation. Certaines études ont montré par le passé que les recruteurs sont davantage susceptibles d'adopter des pratiques discriminatoires lorsque le poste à combler suppose un contact avec la clientèle, par comparaison avec les postes à caractère plus technique ou manuel (Krings et Olivares, 2007 ;Pager, Western et Bonikowski, 2009). À la lumière de nos propres résultats, il semblerait que les membres de minorités racisées soient même encore plus à risque de subir la discrimination lorsque le poste suppose principalement des interactions fréquentes avec les autres employés ou les gestionnaires dans le cadre d'une prestation de service dispensée à l'interne.…”