Doctoral Dissertation Research: Judging Social Minority Job Candidates: An Intersectional Analysis of Employer Behavior towards Social Minorities in the U.S. Labor Force

这个项目考察了社会认同和种族在美国女性招聘结果上的交集。具体地说，该项目提出的问题是：在美国申请工作时，被视为社会少数群体的女性是否受到歧视？作为社会少数群体对白人和黑人女性的影响是否有所不同？工作的性别构成或雇主寻求的个性特征是否会影响社会少数群体是否处于不利地位？如果是这样的话，这些模式会因种族而异吗？最后，与劳动力市场上的多数群体相比，社会少数群体处于不利或有利地位的背后有哪些机制？这项研究特别有意义，因为社会少数群体和多数群体男性之间的劳动力市场不平等在理论上和经验上都得到了很好的证明，但对于社会少数群体女性是否会与多数群体女性相比受到工作场所的惩罚，共识较少。分析职场对社会少数群体的偏见如何因不同的背景或人口因素而变化，不仅有助于揭示这些员工面临的长期心理影响和经济劣势，还可以影响旨在为美国劳动力市场上的所有人带来更大平等的公共政策。该项目由两个实验组成。首先，该项目实施了一项大规模简历审计研究，包括向6个州的3,000多个职位申请工作，使用4份虚构的简历S，这些简历因种族和社会少数群体地位而异。这项研究将获得与大多数妇女相比，社会少数群体是否以及在多大程度上受到惩罚的估计，在这种情况下，申请在与雇主的第一次接触时也因种族而异。接下来，该项目进行了一项调查实验，招募了1,500名招聘经理，让他们在不同的特质上给同样虚构的女性简历S打分，比如感知的能力、道德、专业精神和男子汉气概。这项实验补充了简历审计研究数据，因为它有助于阐明在劳动力市场结果方面，与多数女性相比，社会少数群体受到不利或有利的背后的机制，后者也因种族而异。这些发现将为有关劳动力市场运行的社会学理论提供信息，特别是关于在求职过程中因社会地位而不同的女性经历的不同经历。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project examines the intersection of social identity and race on hiring outcomes for women in the United States. Specifically, the project asks: Are women who are perceived to be social minorities discriminated against when applying to jobs in the United States? Does the effect of being a social minority differ for white and black women? Does the gender composition of the job, or the personality traits employers seek, affect whether social minorities are disadvantaged? If so, do these patterns differ by race? And lastly, what are some mechanisms behind disadvantaging or favoring social minorities compared to majorities in the labor market? This research is especially pertinent because labor market inequalities between social minority and majority men have been well-documented both theoretically and empirically, but there is less consensus on whether female social minorities experience workplace penalties compared to majority women. Analyzing how workplace bias against social minorities may vary by different contextual or demographic factors can not only help shed light on long-term psychological effects and economic disadvantages that such employees face, but it can also influence public policies designed to bring about greater equality for all individuals in the U.S. labor market.The project consists of two experiments. First, the project implements a large-scale résumé audit study that includes job applications to over 3,000 jobs across 6 states using 4 fictitious résumés that vary by race and social minority status. This study will obtain an estimate of whether and to what extent social minorities experience penalties compared to majority women, where the applications also vary by race, at the first point of contact with an employer. Next, the project conducts a survey experiment that recruits 1,500 hiring managers and asks them to rate the same fictitious women’s résumés on various traits, such as perceived competence, morality, professionalism, and masculinity. This experiment supplements the résumé audit study data in that it helps to illuminate the mechanisms behind disfavoring—or favoring—social minorities compared to majority women, who also vary by race, regarding labor market outcomes. These findings will inform sociological theories regarding the operation of the labor market, particularly regarding the varying experiences that women who vary by social status experience throughout the job application process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.