Michael Harriot
Heres a trick question: Two people of the same race apply for a job. Both have identical skills, education and experience. Both are referred by someone who already works at the company. Which one is more likely to be hired?
Answer: The one with the white friend.
Everyone knows its always good to have a white friend. As soon as they perfect android technology, Im going to buy a Caucasian blow-up robot to keep in my glove compartment. Until then, I keep a notarized letter in my pocket signed by all of my white friends. I even take it on job interviews.
The Strength of White Ties: How Employers Reward the Referrals of Black and White Jobseekers, a new study by Fabiana Silva, confirms all of my ideas about keeping mayonnaise-adjacent compadres, and all of your ideas about racism in the workplace. The study takes a new approach to measuring the results of implicit bias by focusing on how employers treat people based on the employee referrals of different job applicants.
Silva, a researcher at the University of Michigans Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, conducted an ingenious experiment to test whether or not the race of the person who refers an individual bears any weight on the hiring process.
To test her theory, Silva found 228 white, non-Hispanic people who are responsible for hiring at their respective companies. Before participating in the experiment, each person was tested for implicit bias. The testing didnt eliminate anyone; it was simply used as a metric for later in the experiment. The participants didnt even know that the implicit bias had anything to do with the experiment because Silva waited 60 days after they took the training to inform them that they were chosen for the research.
https://www.theroot.com/study-youre-more-likely-to-be-hired-if-youre-referred-1826773968?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=The_Root_twitter