Study Indicates Presence of Workplace Discrimination Against People With Disabilities
Summary
TLDRA study sent out 6,001 identical resumes with varying disclosures of disability status in cover letters to examine employer interest. The surprising result showed that applicants with disabilities received 26% fewer callbacks, especially experienced ones, mainly from small firms. This suggests a stigma towards disability, with employers perceiving them as higher risk and costly. The study highlights the need for broader coverage of the Americans with Disabilities Act and emphasizes the importance of diversity in hiring practices.
Takeaways
- 📊 Conducted a study with over 6,000 resumes to examine employer interest in job applicants with disabilities.
- 🔍 Resumes were identical except for the indication of disability status in the cover letters.
- 🤔 Found that 26% of applicants with disabilities received expressions of employer interest, compared to those without.
- 📉 Experienced applicants with disabilities were less likely to get callbacks, particularly from small-sized firms.
- 📈 Medium and large-sized firms seemed to adhere more closely to the mandates of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
- 🏢 Small-sized firms, not covered by ADA, showed a higher likelihood of discrimination against applicants with disabilities.
- 💡 Suggests that social desirability bias might be reduced by sending out resumes rather than surveys to employers.
- 🔑 The study builds on previous research that found racial discrimination in hiring practices by using similar methodology.
- 🤝 Believes that there is still a stigma attached to disability that affects hiring decisions.
- 💼 Employers may perceive experienced applicants with disabilities as riskier due to potential accommodations and liabilities.
- 🌐 Long-term implications include expanding ADA coverage and raising awareness about the importance of disability diversity in hiring.
Q & A
What was the purpose of constructing fake resumes in the study?
-The purpose was to explore whether job applicants with disabilities received fewer expressions of employer interest compared to those without disabilities.
How were the resumes and cover letters structured to test for discrimination?
-The resumes were identical, and the cover letters disclosed the applicant's condition in three different ways: one third indicated a spinal cord injury, one third indicated Asperger's syndrome, and one third did not disclose any disability.
What was the surprising finding regarding the callback rates for applicants with disabilities?
-It was found that 26% of applicants with disabilities received expressions of employer interest, which was a lower rate compared to those without disabilities.
Why were high-experience applicants less likely to receive callbacks, and what does this suggest about employer perceptions?
-High-experience applicants received fewer callbacks, possibly because employers perceive them as riskier due to potential higher pay demands and the assumption that they might require accommodations, which could lead to increased liability and unpredictability in work performance.
How does this study differ from previous research on disability employment?
-Unlike surveys that might be affected by social desirability bias, this study used a field experiment approach by sending out resumes to see actual employer responses, eliminating the bias of what employers think the researchers want to hear.
What is social desirability bias, and why is it a concern in surveys about employer attitudes?
-Social desirability bias is the tendency of respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others, which can lead to inaccurate responses about attitudes and behaviors towards individuals with disabilities.
How does the study's methodology relate to a famous research study involving resumes with black-sounding names?
-The methodology is similar in that both studies used identical resumes and varied only one factor to observe the impact on callback rates, highlighting potential discrimination.
What was the role of small-sized firms in the study's findings regarding discrimination?
-Small-sized firms were more likely not to give callbacks, suggesting they might not have a robust HR infrastructure or may not be familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
What surprised the researchers about the callback rates for experienced applicants?
-The researchers were surprised to find that experienced applicants, particularly those with a CPA and a stellar record, received fewer callbacks than expected, indicating a potential stigma attached to disability.
What are some implications of the study's findings for the ADA and employment practices?
-The findings suggest that the ADA might be working for larger firms but could benefit from expanding its coverage to include smaller firms and raising awareness about the Act among all employers.
What long-term implications does the study suggest for improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities?
-The study implies the need for broader coverage of the ADA, increased awareness among small businesses, and a broader conversation about the importance of diversity, including disability diversity, in the workplace.
Outlines
🔍 Employment Discrimination Study
This paragraph discusses a study conducted to investigate the level of employer interest in job applicants with disabilities compared to those without. The study involved sending out over 6,000 identical resumes, with some indicating a spinal cord injury, Asperger's syndrome, or no disability at all. The results showed that applicants with disabilities received 26% fewer expressions of interest from employers, particularly from small-sized firms. The study aimed to eliminate social desirability bias by mimicking a previous study where resumes with 'black-sounding' names received fewer callbacks. The findings suggest that there is still stigma attached to disability, and employers may perceive experienced applicants with disabilities as riskier due to potential accommodation demands and liability concerns. The study's implications highlight the need for better awareness and adherence to the Americans with Disabilities Act, especially among smaller firms.
🌟 Addressing Disability Diversity in Employment
The second paragraph emphasizes the importance of bringing disability diversity to the forefront, especially in light of ongoing societal discussions, such as the presidential election mentioned. The speaker acknowledges the study's contribution to the existing body of literature on the disability movement and thanks the participants for their involvement. The paragraph suggests that studies like these are crucial in addressing and understanding the challenges faced by people with disabilities in the job market, and it calls for a broader conversation on the value of diversity in employment.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Fake resumes
💡Spinal cord injury
💡Asperger's syndrome
💡Disability disclosure
💡Employer interest
💡Social desirability bias
💡Field experimentation
💡Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
💡Discrimination
💡Risk perception
💡Accommodation
💡Legal threshold
Highlights
A study was conducted using 6,001 fake resumes to explore the treatment of job applicants with disabilities.
Resumes were divided into three groups: those indicating spinal cord injury, those indicating Asperger's syndrome, and those without disability disclosure.
The disability status was mentioned in cover letters, not on the resumes, which were identical for all applicants.
The study aimed to determine if applicants with disabilities received fewer expressions of employer interest.
Results showed that 26% of applicants with disabilities received expressions of interest compared to those without disabilities.
High-experience applicants with disabilities were less likely to get callbacks, particularly from small-sized firms.
Previous research relied on surveys that could be influenced by social desirability bias.
The study's method of sending out resumes eliminates social desirability bias by not revealing the mock applicants.
A similar study with resumes having 'black-sounding' names found fewer callbacks, indicating discrimination.
Field experimentation was used to mimic real-world hiring practices without employer awareness.
The study suggests a stigma still attached to disability affecting employment opportunities.
Employers may view experienced disabled candidates as riskier due to potential accommodations and liabilities.
Small-sized firms were more likely not to give callbacks, possibly due to lack of HR infrastructure or ADA awareness.
The study implies that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) may need to lower its threshold for coverage.
Expanding ADA coverage could be a step towards addressing discrimination in hiring practices.
The study emphasizes the importance of diversity, including disability diversity, in the hiring process.
The research contributes to the body of literature on disability movement and employment.
Transcripts
we constructed fake resumes over
6-thousand and one third indicated that
the applicant had a spinal cord injury
one third indicated they had Asperger's
syndrome and one third did not disclose
a disability and this was in the cover
letters not in the resumes all the
resumes were identical and do you want
to take it yes oh we just wanted to
explore whether job applicants with
disabilities received fewer expressions
of employer interest than those without
disabilities and and what we found was
fairly interesting 26% of people with
disabilities are applicants receive -
your expressions of employer interests
and those without disabilities and our
applicants who had high experience were
the ones that didn't get a call back and
this was mostly centralized around small
sized firms right how does this research
differ from previous research on
disability employment well there have
been surveys asking employers about
their attitudes and behavior towards job
applicants and employees with
disabilities but you always have to
worry there that something called social
desirability bias where they're telling
you what they think you want to hear and
this way by actually sending out resumes
you eliminate that problem it's
reminiscent of a famous research study
done years ago
now that with the identical resumes but
one had black sounding name whatever and
and the result was that those people got
fewer callbacks exactly and we use that
study as kind of a jumping-off place for
our study how does this type of research
into discrimination get at
discrimination in a way that other
studies couldn't well in terms of
implications when you look at field
experimentation what we're doing is
we're sending out mock applicants into
the field but employers don't know that
so as they're screening through these
profiles they're assuming that these are
tried-and-true applicants can you
extract from this information why
well that's really interesting we could
not interview any of the employers but
we believe that there is still a lot of
stigma attached to disability and what
really surprised us as Mason mentioned
was that the experienced applicants had
fewer callbacks than the novice
applicants now that goes against what we
expected because we thought listen if
you have a CPA this was for accountant
positions if you have a CPA you have a
stellar record you have six years of
experience we thought they'd do better
but we think that employers see these
candidates as riskier they'd have to pay
them more and they don't want to take
that risk on they see disability and
they think oh my goodness they're going
to demand an accommodation there's going
to be liability we're not going to be
able to predict how they're going to
work and that's how you think it relates
to the whole employment picture for
people with disabilities we think it's a
big piece of it certainly of course when
we when we identified that small sized
firms amongst our sample size of six
thousand and sixteen were more likely to
not give us a call back in terms of
implications at major speed that these
small sized firms don't have a robust HR
infrastructure or aren't even familiar
with the Americans with Disabilities Act
although they're not necessarily
mandated by the Act what surprised you
the most about this well as far as the
story itself and really the narration of
the data is its two-pronged on one side
you see that medium and large sized
firms are for what it's worth abiding by
the mandate the ad a on the flip side it
seems as though that small size firms
are more likely to commit to legal
discrimination at least that's one
implication right that we can assume and
as far as implications for the Act well
the Act is working but perhaps we should
lower the threshold and include some of
those small sized firms just can I just
jump in here for a second so we found
there was a big difference between
companies with less than 15 employees
who are not covered by the ad a and
those that were bigger than had more
than 15 employees and that's where we
really saw a large difference what are
the long-term implications of this how
do you make this work the world if you
will well there's several things as
Mason said one thing would be to
and coverage of the ad a so that you
don't have to have that 15 employee
threshold in order to be covered by the
law it seems as if perhaps the smaller
companies aren't even aware of what they
should be doing they might not know that
maybe they have a state law that covers
them they we don't know but expanding
coverage of the ad a would definitely be
a first step go ahead well I think it's
also a conversation of diversity right
and how diversity matters and given the
climate in terms of just the
presidential election coming up and and
so on and whatnot it ultimately we need
to bring diversity as far as disability
diversity to the forefront and studies
of this nature are really going to
address something that we have known in
the body of literature that is a
disability movement thank you for being
with us thank you thank you
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