Reactions to Employment Equity Programs and Situational Interviews: A Laboratory Study

Abstract

We investigated the effects of employment equity and situational interview procedures on student participants' perceptions of fairness regarding an organization's selection processes and perceived qualifications of an aboriginal job applicant. Students enrolled at a Canadian university participated in the research. Written scenarios that contained employment equity and interview structure manipulations were used to test the hypotheses. Multivariate analysis indicated that employment equity procedures had a negative effect on perceptions of fairness. However, the use of a situational interview in the hiring process resulted in higher perceptions of fairness than the use of an unstructured, face-to-face interview. No effects of employment equity procedures and interview structure on perceived qualifications of the aboriginal job applicant were found. Racial prejudice was negatively correlated with perceptions of fairness and perceived qualifications of the aboriginal job applicant.