Which of the following companies had the largest racial bias in hiring?

April 11, 2024 Jonathan Milner

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

A group of economists recently performed an experiment on around 100 of the largest companies in the country, applying for jobs using made-up résumés with equivalent qualifications but different personal characteristics. They changed applicants’ names to suggest that they were white or Black, and male or female — Latisha or Amy, Lamar or Adam. Which two companies listed above were the most likely to show racial preference in hiring by contacting the presumed White applicants more often than the presumed Black applicants?
Known as an audit study, the experiment was the largest of its kind in the United States: The researchers sent 80,000 résumés to 10,000 jobs from 2019 to 2021. The results demonstrate how entrenched employment discrimination is in parts of the U.S. labor market — and the extent to which Black workers start behind in certain industries. Of the 14 companies listed above, which were the least likely to show a racial preference in hiring?
To assign names, the researchers started with a prior list that had been assembled using Massachusetts birth certificates from 1974 to 1979. They then supplemented this list with names found in a database of speeding tickets issued in North Carolina between 2006 and 2018, classifying a name as “distinctive” if more than 90 percent of people with that name were of a particular race. The names shown on resumes below* are all “distinctive”. In the experiment, AutoNation, a used car retailer, contacted presumed white applicants 43 percent more often than presumed Black applicant, and Genuine Parts Company, which sells auto parts including under the NAPA brand, and called presumed white candidates 33 percent more often. People of all races and genders buy products. Why do you think any company would show any racial preference?
The study includes 97 firms. The jobs the researchers applied to were entry level, not requiring a college degree or substantial work experience. In addition to race and gender, the researchers tested other characteristics protected by law, like age and sexual orientation. On average, companies did not treat male and female applicants differently. This aligns with other research showing that gender discrimination against women is rare in entry-level jobs, and starts later in careers. Does it surprise you that large companies have a larger racial bias than gender bias in hiring entry level jobs?
The study may underestimate the rate of discrimination against Black applicants in the labor market as a whole because it tested large companies, which tend to discriminate less, said Lincoln Quillian, a sociologist at Northwestern who analyzes audit studies. It did not include names intended to represent Latino or Asian American applicants, but other research suggests that they are also contacted less than white applicants, though they face less discrimination than Black applicants. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination is illegal even if it’s unintentional. Yet in the real world, it is difficult for job applicants to know why they did not hear back from a company. What do you suggest the U.S. government’s Justice Department do about the racial discrimination shown in this experiment?
Several common measures — like employing a chief diversity officer, offering diversity training or having a diverse board — were not correlated with decreased discrimination in entry-level hiring, the researchers found. But one thing strongly predicted less discrimination: a centralized H.R. operation. How would you suggest that companies discriminate less?
Finally, more profitable companies were less biased, in line with a long-held economics theory by the Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker that discrimination is bad for business. Economists said that could be because the more profitable companies benefit from a more diverse set of employees. Or it could be an indication that they had more efficient business processes, in H.R. and elsewhere. Why do you think that discrimination leads to bad business results?
Louis Brandeis the great Supreme Court Justice wrote that, “Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” What did he mean by that and how does it relate to this experiment?
Political socialization is how people develop their political knowledge, values, and opinions. Of the many factors that shape our political beliefs. family, school, peers and mass media are the most important. Where do you think we learn to discriminate and to have biases against other types of people?
The Civil Rights Movement and Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 Letter From Birmingham Jail firmly grounded its appeals for liberty and equality in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, fighting for America to fulfill its own promise that “all men are created equal.” What would Dr. King say about the bias hiring experiment and the level of equality in America today?
What would a typical believer in the following ideologies say about how the government should respond to this report:
Libertarian
Liberal
Conservative
Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Act on your Learning

Contact one of the companies above with the least discrimination - for example, Dr. Pepper - and congratulate them on their hiring practices. Then celebrate by purchasing one of their products.