Abstract
Using a correspondence field experiment, the study reported in this article has investigated if immigrant job applicants with equivalent qualifications are treated differently in the Finnish labour market. The study consists of 5000 job applications that were sent out to 1000 advertised positions by five applicants of Finnish, English, Iraqi, Russian and Somali backgrounds, who differed only in their names. The findings show that applicants of immigrant origin receive significantly fewer invitations for a job interview than the native candidate, even if they possess identical language proficiency, education and vocational diplomas. However, the extent of discrimination is not equally distributed among the immigrant groups. Rather, job applicants from non-European backgrounds seem to suffer a significantly greater labour-market penalty. The findings clearly suggest that, despite anti-discrimination legislation and measures aimed at promoting equal employment opportunities, discrimination continues to remain a serious barrier to immigrants’ labour-market integration in a Nordic welfare society.
Highlights
IntroductionA large body of research conducted in various countries has highlighted discrimination for its role in depressing immigrants’ effective integration into the labour market (e.g. Carlsson, 2010; Drydakis and Vlassis, 2010; Fibbi et al, 2006; Heath and Cheung, 2007; Kaas and Manger, 2011; McGinnity and Lunn, 2011; Midtbøen, 2015; Weichselbaumer, 2015).Immigrants’ disadvantaged status has been reported with regard to career advancement, job prestige and periods of employment and unemployment and in terms of wage levels and permanent or short-term employment contracts (e.g. Andriessen et al, 2012; Brekke and Mastekaasa, 2008; Uhlendorff and Zimmermann, 2014)
The differences in labour-market indicators still persist when factors related to human capital are held constant. It is first-generation immigrants who confront barriers in the labour market, and second-generation immigrants with domestic qualifications face greater unemployment risks and low occupational attainment compared with their native counterparts (Birkelund et al, 2017; Rydgren, 2004; Verkuyten and Zaremba, 2005)
Does discrimination vary by job applicant name?
Summary
A large body of research conducted in various countries has highlighted discrimination for its role in depressing immigrants’ effective integration into the labour market (e.g. Carlsson, 2010; Drydakis and Vlassis, 2010; Fibbi et al, 2006; Heath and Cheung, 2007; Kaas and Manger, 2011; McGinnity and Lunn, 2011; Midtbøen, 2015; Weichselbaumer, 2015).Immigrants’ disadvantaged status has been reported with regard to career advancement, job prestige and periods of employment and unemployment and in terms of wage levels and permanent or short-term employment contracts (e.g. Andriessen et al, 2012; Brekke and Mastekaasa, 2008; Uhlendorff and Zimmermann, 2014). While discrimination has been commonly reported as one of the significant factors for dampening immigrants’ employment prospects, theoretical explanations of why there is discrimination vary with respect to different disciplinary approaches. In sociology, these explanations are often derived from conflict theory (Tilly, 1998; Tomaskovic-Devey, 1993), which regards discrimination as an attempt by the dominant group to protect and maintain its privileged access to scarce resources, such as jobs, by excluding members of the subordinate groups. Social psychological explanations for ethnic inequality in employment are generally rooted in social cognitive theory According to this perspective, people have a tendency to automatically categorise others into in-groups and out-groups Social categorisation can potentially create biases in our understanding and evaluations of others
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