Between Meritocracy and Ethnic Discrimination: The Gender Difference

Using a two stage correspondence test methodology, this study tests employer priors against job-applicants with Arabic names compared to job-applicants with Swedish names. In the first stage, employers are sent CVs of equal observable quality. Thereafter, in the second stage, the CVs with Arabic names are given an advantage of, on average, two more years of relevant work experience. This setup allows us to test the strength of unfavorable priors against job-applicants with Arabic names and to what degree these priors are revised, on average, when resumes are enhanced. Results indicate no significant differences in call-backs for female applicants when CVs with Arabic names are enhanced. The call-back gap for men however remains large and significant despite a positive adjustment of CVs with Arabic names. This implies that negative priors against male job applicants with Arabic names are not revised by an increase in observable merits.Correspondence Testing; Ethnic Discrimination; Biased Testing; Gender

Between Meritocracy and Ethnic Discrimination: The Gender Difference

Using a two stage correspondence test methodology, this study tests employer priors against job-applicants with Arabic names compared to job-applicants with Swedish names. In the first stage, employers are sent CVs of equal observable quality. Thereafter, in the second stage, the CVs with Arabic names are given an advantage of, on average, two more years of relevant work experience. This setup allows us to test the strength of unfavorable priors against job-applicants with Arabic names and to what degree these priors are revised, on average, when resumes are enhanced. Results indicate no significant differences in call-backs for female applicants when CVs with Arabic names are enhanced. The call-back gap for men however remains large and significant despite a positive adjustment of CVs with Arabic names. This implies that negative priors against male job applicants with Arabic names are not revised by an increase in observable merits.correspondence testing, ethnic discrimination, biased testing, gender

the overlapping uncertainties of film professionals

Returning to an interpersonal micro-perspective, this chapter centers on the development of ties between the three film professionals Hushang, Kian, and Milad and examines the way they try to generate capital in German and Iranian local and transnational professional social fields. Building on previous research on social capital and the film business, the analysis brings the difficulties of interdependence in internal relations to the forefront. Furthermore, I highlight how systems of value prevailing in different social fields may both intersect and overlap, thus accounting for the fact that agency in different social fields is interconnected. The ways the three men deal with uncertainties deriving from migration and the job market illustrates that people with similar resources may still find very different ways of dealing with barriers to inclusion

What’s in a name? A field experiment test for the existence of ethnic discrimination in the hiring process. SULCIS Working Papers

Abstract This paper provides evidence of extensive ethnic discrimination in the Swedish labour market. A field experiment (correspondence test) that tests employer discrimination has been performed. Pairs of equally merited applications has been sent to job openings, one with a Swedish sounding name and one with a foreign sounding name. Discrimination is measured by documenting the existence of an ethnic difference in call-backs. The results indicate that there is discrimination in all of the occupations that were tested in the experiment, but that the extent of the ethnic discrimination differs between the occupations. An attempt is also made to explain the results applying the theories of statistical discrimination and social distance. JEL Classification: J15, J7

What’s in a name? - A field experiment test for the existence of ethnic discrimination in the hiring process

This paper provides evidence of extensive ethnic discrimination in the Swedish labour market. A field experiment (correspondence test) that tests employer discrimination has been performed. Pairs of equally merited applications has been sent to job openings, one with a Swedish sounding name and one with a foreign sounding name. Discrimination is measured by documenting the existence of an ethnic difference in call-backs. The results indicate that there is discrimination in all of the occupations that were tested in the experiment, but that the extent of the ethnic discrimination differs between the occupations. An attempt is also made to explain the results applying the theories of statistical discrimination and social distance

Ethnic Discrimination, Name Change and Labor Market Inequality : Mixed approaches to ethnic exclusion in Sweden

This thesis consists of four empirical studies on ethnic integration in the Swedish labor market. Studies I-III draw on a field experiment testing ethnic discrimination in the hiring process. Study I documents the existence of employer discrimination in response to equally merited applications with Arabic/African or Swedish names, and shows that foreign-named applicants have to send twice as many applications to receive a callback compared to Swedish-named applicants. Results also suggest that employers in female-dense occupations practice ethnic and gender compensation while employers in male-dense occupations practice only gender compensation. Study II reveals gendered differences in the intensity of employer stereotypes by testing how much more work experience is needed to eliminate the disadvantage of having an Arabic name on a job application. Results indicate a reverse gender gap, as initial differences in call-backs disappear for female applicants when CVs for Arabic-named applications are enhanced but remain strong and significant for male applicants. Study III evaluates criticism directed at residual analysis and field experiments that claims that they tell us nothing about real world discrimination and its long-term effects. By combining experimental and register data, Study III responds to this criticism by showing that the results of Study I correspond closely with real world labor market inequality of identical ‘twins’ (identified through propensity score matching) to the fictive individuals of Study I. Study IV explores the strategies underlying surname change from a Middle Eastern name to a more Swedish sounding one, drawing on 45 interviews with surname changers with a Middle Eastern background. The results indicate that immigrant name change is a pragmatic assimilation strategy. The study also illustrates how the institutional enabling of name change both creates and enables pragmatic assimilation.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Submitted. Paper 2: Submitted. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p

Social consensus influences ethnic diversity preferences

There is widespread segregation between workplaces along ethnic lines. We expand upon previous research on segregation and social influence by testing the effect of the latter on personal diversity preferences, specifically in employees’ selection into hypothetical workplaces. In a survey study with 364 European American respondents in three waves, participants complied with social consensus preferences for either more or less workplace diversity. The new preference was sufficiently internalized to be retained largely unaltered a week later. Simulations suggest a self-reinforcing effect, where accurate social consensus information may be sufficient to change preferences. Given that initial choices were polarized, perceived social consensus can vary highly between people in society, and influencing this perception may feed back into greater acceptance of minorities

of LaborBetween Meritocracy and Ethnic Discrimination: The Gender Difference

Any opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but the institute itself takes no institutional policy positions. The Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn is a local and virtual international research center and a place of communication between science, politics and business. IZA is an independent nonprofit organization supported by Deutsche Post World Net. The center is associated with the University of Bonn and offers a stimulating research environment through its international network, workshops and conferences, data service, project support, research visits and doctoral program. IZA engages in (i) original and internationally competitive research in all fields of labor economics, (ii) development of policy concepts, and (iii) dissemination of research results and concepts to the interested public. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may b