The effect of foreign accent on employability : a study of the aural dimensions of aesthetic labour in customer-facing and non-customer-facing jobs

Using quantitative methods, this article examines the effect of foreign accents on job applicants’ employability ratings in the context of a simulated employment interview experiment conducted in the USA. It builds upon the literature on aesthetic labour, which focuses largely on the role of physical appearance in employment relations, by shifting attention to its under-investigated auditory and aural dimensions. The results suggest that the managerial respondents actively discriminate in telephone-based job interviews against applicants speaking Chinese-, Mexican- and Indian-accented English, and all three are rated higher in non-customer-facing jobs than in customer-facing jobs. Job applicants who speak British-accented English, especially men, fare as well as, and at times better than, native candidates who speak American English. The article makes a contribution to the sociological literatures surrounding aesthetic labour and discrimination and prejudice against migrant workers.PostprintPeer reviewe

Employment Discrimination against Indigenous People with Tribal Marks in Nigeria: The Painful face of Stigma

Drawing from in-depth qualitative interviews (N=32), this article examines the impact of indigenous tribal marks on employment chances in southwest Nigeria. It employs indigenous standpoint theory to frame the argument around what constitutes stigma and in what context. The results of our thematic analysis indicate that tribally marked job applicants and employees face significant social rejection, stigmatization, and discrimination, and can suffer from severe mental illnesses and even suicidal ideation. We explain how these tribally marked individuals navigate the changing contours of tradition and modernity in Nigeria. Tribal marks, although once largely perceived as signals of beauty and high social status, are now increasingly viewed as a significant liability in the labor market. This paper makes a unique and original contribution to the study of stigma and employment discrimination by eschewing the prevailing Western ethnocentrism in the extant research and instead placing the indigenous standpoint at center stage

Is workplace democracy associated with wider pro-democracy affect? A structural equation model

Using structural equation modelling, this article examines the hypothesis that employees can learn about democracy through employee participation in workplace decision-making, thus resulting in more positive attitudes toward democracy in the wider political arena. The research finds that workplace democracy is strongly positively associated with increased interest in politics and wider pro-democracy affect. This result holds true even when controlling for reverse causality and the confounding influence of trade union membership. The article suggests that work can have an important effect on wider governance at the level of the community and the state.PostprintPeer reviewe

Employee voice through open-book accounting : the benefits of informational transparency

This paper explores the concept of open-book accounting. It illustrates the benefits of open-book reporting policies in terms of their potential ability to correct informational asymmetries, and it sets out some ideas for a future research agenda centred around the concept. The discussion is grounded in large part in the experiences of employee-owned businesses because such organisations are at the forefront of informational transparency innovations in social accounting. But the broader principle of sharing organisational information with employees and training them to process financial and strategic information is applicable to any organisation. It is argued that open-book accounting, especially in the context of employee-owned businesses, provides an exciting alternative to mainstream accounting and financial controls and a welcome addition to the social accounting literature.PostprintPeer reviewe

What do you think of my ink? Assessing the effects of body art on employment chances

Using mixed design analysis of variance, this paper examines the effect of body art on job applicant hireability ratings. It employs the literatures on the social psychologies of stigma and prejudice, as well as aesthetic labor, to frame the argument. The results indicate that photos of tattooed and pierced job applicants result in lower hireability ratings compared to the control faces. The negative effect of body art on employment chances is, however, reduced for job applicants seeking non customer facing roles. In customer facing roles, the tattoo is associated with lower hireability ratings than the piercing. The results suggest that visible body art can potentially be a real impediment to employment

Taboo tattoos? A study of the gendered effects of body art on consumers' attitudes toward visibly tattooed front line staff

The purpose of this experiment is to examine the gendered effects of body art on consumers’ attitudes toward visibly tattooed employees. We analyse the reaction of 262 respondents with exposure to male and female front line staff in two distinct job contexts: a surgeon and an automobile mechanic. The results demonstrate differences on three dimensions: a) job context, b) sex of face and c) stimulus (i.e., tattooed or not). We demonstrate significant interaction effects on those three dimensions, and our findings point to the intersectionality of gender-based and tattoo-based discrimination. Consumers have a negative reaction to body art, but perceptions of tattoos on male and female front line staff differ significantly. A key marketing challenge is how to balance employees’ individual rights to self-expression and at the same time cater to consumers’ expectations regarding appearance of staff. Our study forms the basis for this debate that is only just emerging.PostprintPeer reviewe

Body art as branded labour : at the intersection of employee selection and relationship marketing

Using mixed methods, this paper examines the role of body art as a form of branded labour in customer-facing jobs. It brings together employee selection and relationship marketing into one framework, and uniquely conceptualizes body art as an asset in the labour market, rather than the traditional liability. In Study 1, 192 respondents with management experience participated in an online laboratory experiment in which they were asked to rate photographs of tattooed and non-tattooed job applicants in two hypothetical organizations: a fine dining restaurant and a popular nightclub. In Study 2, 20 in-depth, qualitative interviews were carried out with managers, tattooed front-line employees and potential consumers in two real-world service sector firms. The results show how body art can be strategically used to positively convey the brand of organizations, primarily those targeting a younger, ‘edgier’ demographic of customer.PostprintPeer reviewe

Subtle increases in BMI within a healthy weight range still reduce women's employment chances in the service sector

Using mixed design analysis of variance (ANOVA), this paper investigates the effects of a subtle simulated increase in adiposity on women’s employment chances in the service sector. Employing a unique simulation of altering individuals’ BMIs and the literature on “aesthetic labour”, the study suggests that, especially for women, being heavier, but still within a healthy BMI, deleteriously impacts on hireability ratings. The paper explores the gendered dimension of this prejudice by asking whether female employees at the upper end of a healthy BMI range are likely to be viewed more negatively than their overtly overweight male counterparts. The paper concludes by considering the implications of these findings.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

An experimental study of the effects of tattoo genre on perceived trustworthiness : not all tattoos are created equal

This paper examines the effects of different genres of body art on the perceived trustworthiness of hypothetical men and women with tattoos. It argues that body art is a salient cultural signal that denotes group membership and can also lead to the perception of a potential threat of harm on the part of the truster. The research finds that tattoos depicting images of violence and nudity result in the lowest levels of perceived trustworthiness; tattoos depicting images of Christianity and natural floral settings result in the highest levels of perceived trustworthiness; and the tribal tattoo genre occupies a neutral position on the trustworthiness spectrum. Whether the truster has a tattoo and shares the Christian faith with the trustee are also significant factors, as is the gender of the tattooed trustee. This paper is the first study ever to examine the effects of different genres of tattoos, thus going beyond previous research that overwhelmingly measures body art as a simple binary variable (e.g., whether or not the respondent has a tattoo).PostprintPeer reviewe

When stakeholder representation leads to faultlines: a study of board service performance in social enterprises

Following the growing interest in sustainability and ethics, organizations are increasingly attentive to accountability toward stakeholders. Stakeholder representation, obtained by appointing board members representing different stakeholder groups, is suggested to be a good ethical practice. However, such representation may also have nefarious implications for board functioning. Particularly, it may result in strong faultline emergence, subsequently mitigating board performance. Our study aims at understanding the process through which faultlines affect board performance, and particularly the board service role through which the board is involved in providing counsel and strategic decision-making. We study the relationship between faultlines and board service performance in the particularly relevant context of social enterprises. We find that faultline strength is negatively related to board service performance and that this relationship is mediated by board task conflict. Furthermore, our study reveals the importance of clear and shared organizational goals in attenuating the negative effects of faultlines