The Interactive Effects of Race, Gender, and Job Type on Job Suitability Ratings and Selection Decisions¹

Abstract

The present study examined the main and interactive effects of race, gender, and job type on job suitability ratings and selection decisions. Consistent with the double‐advantage additive effects model of race and gender, highly educated Black women were rated as more suitable for jobs and more likely to be selected for jobs requiring high levels of cognitive ability than were comparably educated White men, White women, or Black men. These results suggest that selection decisions might be jointly determined by race, gender, and the nature of a job. The implications of these findings for overcoming biases in employment‐related decision making are discussed.

Effects of Non-Indigenous Australian Human Resource Managers' Gender and Attitudes and Applicants' Ethnicity and Gender on Resumé Evaluations

“…These results are consistent with overseas findings that ethnic majority research participants are more likely to prefer ethnic majority job applicants than ethnic minority applicants Hosoda et al, 2003;Purkiss et al, 2006;Singer & Eder, 1989). They also offer implicit support for the proposition that discriminatory workplace practices may contribute to the high rate of Indigenous unemployment (Davidson, 1984).…”

“…However, the present study did not permit separate examination of social identity (e.g., Gaertner & Dovidio, 2005) and cognitive demand (e.g., Hosoda et al, 2003) explanations of this finding. Future research with a larger sample may be able to segment the effects of group identity and cognitive demand by broadening the number of employment positions to include more junior (low demand) and more senior (high demand) same-industry (in-group) and different-industry (outgroup) positions.…”

“…HR professionals were asked to review and evaluate resumés of four fictitious applicants who differed according to ethnicity and gender, but who were otherwise similar in terms or their educational and employment experience. Taking into account overseas research into evaluation of ethnic majority and minority job applicants' resumés (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000;Hosoda et al, 2003;Purkiss et al, 2006;Singer & Eder, 1989), and that at least a third of non-Indigenous people may be prejudiced against Indigenous people (Pedersen & Walker, 1997;Pedersen et al, 2000;Pedersen et al, 2004;Pedersen et al, 2006), we predicted that non-Indigenous HR professionals would rate and rank non-Indigenous applicants' resumés more favourably than Indigenous Australian job applicants' resumés. Furthermore, based on social identity explanations of ethnic in-group versus outgroup favouritism, we predicted that non-Indigenous HR professionals who hold a negative attitude towards Indigenous Australians would be more likely than HR professionals who hold a positive attitude towards Indigenous Australians to rate and rank Indigenous applicants' resumés less favourably than non-Indigenous applicants' resumés.…”

“…Applicant attributes such as gender (Dipboye, Fromkin, & Wilback, 1975;Dipboye, Arvey, & Terpstra, 1977;Marlowe, Schneider, & Nelson, 1996;Singer, 1988), ethnicity Hosoda, Stone, & Stone-Romero, 2003;Purkiss, Perrewé, Gillespie, Mayes, & Ferris, 2006;Singer & Eder, 1989), age (Gringart, Helmes, & Speelman, 2008;Singer & Sewell, 1989), body weight (Ding & Stillman, 2005), pregnancy (Masser, Grass, & Nesic, 2007), disability (Gouvier, SytsmaJordan, & Mayville, 2003), and attractiveness (Dipboye et al, 1975;1977) have been shown to influence resumé evaluations and job selection. Ethnic majority applicants are more likely to be preferred than ethnic minority applicants.…”

Discrimination Fully Mediates the Effects of Incarceration History on Depressive Symptoms and Psychological Distress Among African American Men

“…African American men report higher perceived discrimination compared to African American women (51,52), which may partially be due to mass incarceration and police brutality (53,54) as well as a higher likelihood of experiencing unsafe environments (55,56). Due to social norms and masculinity ideologies that both emphasize importance of maintaining dominance and hierarchy in the society, experiences with discrimination have very high psychological costs for men (57–59). In fact, a growing body of evidence suggests that gender may interact with discrimination on health outcomes (60–63).…”