The Effects of Race of Applicant and Type of Job on Hiring Decisions

Abstract

Two studies in the United States’ have found that Ss rate black applicants for “white” jobs less favorably than equally qualified white applicants for the same jobs, but more favorably for “black” jobs. In the present study it is argued that this interaction between race of applicant and type of job will not hold in a society like South Africa where racial discrimination is the norm.2 Specifically, it is hypothesized that white Ss in South Africa will rate blacks as less suitable for both “white-held” and “black-held” jobs, thus ruling out the interaction effect found in the United States. To test this prediction, 75 white first-level supervisors, in South Africa evaluated the resumes of 12 fictitious applicants for two kinds of jobs in a 2 x 2 x 2 randomized block factorial de~ign,~ with the independent variables of type of job (white-held, black-held) and race of applicant (white, black), and qualifications of applicant (high. low). Ss’ ratings of the hirability of the applicants on a seven-point scale, and their choice of an appropriate starting salary from seven possible figures constituted the two dependent measures. In a pilot study, 25 professional interviewers rated the two jobs (railway shunter, plumber’s assistant) as being of equal status on a seven-point scale, ranging from low = 1 to high = 7. However, their subsequent average ratings of the percentage of blacks in each job varied widely, from 90% white (railway shunter) to 10% white (plumber’s assistant). The first job was regarded as “white held,” the second as “black held.”