assignment

Department of Sociology Princeton University

in the NYC Job MarketRACE AT WORK

Realities of Race and Criminal Record

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Langston Hughes Auditorium

This report was released as part of the NYC Commission on Human Rights conference Race At Work – Realities of Race and Criminal Record in the NYC Job Market held on December 9, 2005 at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Conference and publication supported by the JEHT Foundation.

acial progress since

the 1960s has led some

researchers and policy makers

to proclaim the problem of

discrimination solved. Despite

low rates of employment

among blacks compared to

whites, many people are now

skeptical that discrimination

remains a significant cause

of racial inequality in the U.S.

labor market. Public opinion

polls indicate that Americans

today are much less likely

to view discrimination as a

major problem as were their

counterparts in the 1970s.

In fact, according to a recent

Gallup poll, more than three-

quarters of the general public

believe that blacks are treated

the same as whites in society.

In part, white Americans

have turned their attention

away from the problems

of discrimination because

it is difficult to observe.

Contemporary forms of

discrimination are often subtle

and covert, making it difficult

for the average observer to

recognize their effects. In the

present study, we adopt an

experimental audit approach

to more explicitly identify

patterns of discrimination in

the low-wage labor market

of New York City. By using

matched teams of individuals

to apply for real entry-level

jobs, it becomes possible to

directly measure the extent to

which race/ethnicity—in the

absence of other disqualifying

characteristics—reduce

employment opportunities

among equally qualified

applicants.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Our research design involved

sending matched teams of

1

R

in the NYC Job Market

RACE AT WORK Realities of Race and Criminal Record

young men (called testers)

to apply for 1470 real entry-

level jobs throughout New

York City over ten months

in 2004. The testers were

well-spoken young men, aged

22 to 26; most were college-

educated, between 5 feet 10

inches and 6 feet in height,

recruited in and around New

York City. They were chosen

on the basis of their similar

verbal skills, interactional styles

and physical attractiveness.

Additionally, testers went

through a common training

program to ensure uniform

style of self presentation in

job interviews. Testers were

assigned matched fictitious

resumes representing

comparable profiles with

respect to educational

attainment, quality of high

school, work experience, and

neighborhood of residence.

Testers presented themselves

as high school graduates

with steady work experience

2

in entry-level jobs. In some

conditions, testers presented

additional evidence of a felony

conviction. 1

RESuLTS

Our first set of results come

from the three-person team

in which a white, Hispanic,

and black tester applied to

the same set of employers

presenting identical

qualifications. For each set

of visits, we recorded whether

testers were offered the job

on the spot, or, at some

later point, called back for a

second interview (which we

refer to together as “positive

responses.”) As we can see

in Figure 1, the proportion of

positive responses depends

strongly on the race of the job

applicant. This comparison

demonstrates a strong racial

hierarchy, with whites in the

1 In this report, we study racial and ethnic discrimination using data from two teams of testers. A total of 6 teams (and 13 testers) were included in this study, allowing us to study various combinations of race, criminal background, and educational attainment. The results from the other teams will be discussed in a companion paper.

Figure 1. Call-Backs or Job Offers by Race / Ethnicity

lead, followed by Latinos, with

blacks trailing far behind.

These outcomes suggest that

blacks are only slightly more

than half as likely to receive

consideration by employers

relative to equally qualified

white applicants. Latinos also

pay a penalty for minority

status, but they are clearly

preferred relative to their black

counterparts.

Beyond these numerical

outcomes, the experiences

reported by testers in the

course of their interviews with

employers were also revealing

of the racial dynamics at

work. In some cases, our

minority testers received clear

feedback that they were not

welcome or appropriate for a

particular work environment.

On one occasion, for example,

Dathan, an African American

tester, reports his experience

applying for a position at an

upscale jewelry store’s booth

at a job fair. Waiting for the

store representative to finish

her conversation with another

applicant, he watches her

giggling with the blond female

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5

10

15

20

25 23

19

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White Latino Black The total number of employers audited by this team = 252. Positive response rates for Whites and Latinos are signifIcantly different from Blacks (p<.05). Response rates for Latinos are marginally significantly different from Whites (p=.07).

p e

rc e

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p o

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s applicant in front of him.

Finally it’s Dathan’s turn to

speak with the representative.

He reports the following

interaction:

“[When the rep saw me] her

smiley face turned into a serious

business face, and I said ‘Hi,

I’m interested in applying for

a position at [your store].’ She

asked, ‘To do what?’ I said, ‘I

have customer service experience

and sales experience.’

She said: ‘I haven’t been with

[company X] for too long, but I

imagine they want [company X]

type of people, who can represent

[company X]… ‘“

In this 30 second interaction,

the rep had apparently been

able to size up Dathan’s

potential and had decided

that he was not “company X

type of people.” In the rep’s

view, the employer’s status

– a prestigious company in a

prestigious retail trade –

appeared to rule out the

possibility of hiring a young

black male.

4

These interactions in which

race plays a role provide a

small window into the process

by which employers regard

young African Americans

as unsuitable employees.

Most commonly, however,

stereotyping and discrimination

remain invisible to the job

applicant. In fact, despite

certain fairly striking examples

of racial dynamics in testers’

interactions with employers,

the vast majority of disparate

treatment occurred with little or

no signs of trouble.

In one case, for example, the

three test partners reported

experiences that, in the

absence of direct comparisons,

would have revealed no

evidence of discrimination.

In recording his experience

applying for this retail sales

position, Joe, one of our

African American testers,

reports: “[The employer] said

the position was just filled and

that she would be calling people

in for an interview if the person

doesn’t work out.” Josue, his

Latino test partner, was told

something very similar: “She

informed me that the position was

already filled, but did not know if

the hired employee would work

out. She told me to leave my

resume with her.” By contrast,

when Simon, their white tester,

applied last, his experience

was notably different: “…I asked

what the hiring process was—if

they’re taking applications now,

interviewing, etc. She looked

at my application. ‘You can

start immediately?’ Yes. ‘Can

you start tomorrow?’ Yes. ‘10

a.m.’ She was very friendly and

introduced me to another woman

(white, 28) at the cash register

who will be training me.”

When evaluated individually,

these interactions would not

have raised any concern. All

three testers were asked about

their availability and about

their sales experience. The

employer appeared willing to

consider each of them. But in

the final analysis, it was the

white applicant who walked

out with the job. Incidents

such as these illustrate the

ease with which contemporary

acts of discrimination can

remain completely undetected.

Without a white partner

following in their footsteps,

Joe and Josue would have had

no indication of the degree

to which their experiences,

in cases like these, were

being shaped by racial

considerations. And yet, as the

results of the study show, race

remains highly consequential in

determining the opportunities

available for low wage work.

In a second set of analyses,

we compare the magnitude

of race/ethnic discrimination

to another prevalent form

of stigma among low-wage

workers. Recent political

discussions and media

coverage have highlighted the

plight of an increasing number

of inmates being released from

prison each year. We know

that these men face substantial

difficulties in securing

employment as a result of

their criminal background.

Comparing the outcome of

this group to minorities with

no criminal background allows

us to assess the relative

magnitudes of criminal stigma

and minority status.

5

Figure 2 shows the results

from this second three-person

team in which the white tester

now presents evidence of a

felony conviction. His test

partners, black and Latino

young men, present no criminal

background. As we can see in

this figure, the rate of positive

responses for the white tester

are substantially diminished

relative to the white tester with

no criminal background (from

Figure 1). Nevertheless, this

white applicant with a felony

conviction appears to do just

as well, if not better, than

6

his black counterpart with no

criminal background. These

results suggest that employers

view minority job applicants as

essentially equivalent to whites

just out of prison.

Despite the fact that these

applicants presented equivalent

credentials and applied for

exactly the same jobs, race

appears to overtake all else

in determining employment

opportunities.

Calibrating the magnitude of

the race effects to the effects

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2

4

6

8

10

12

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White felon Latino Black

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The total number of employers audited by this team = 255. Positive response rates for White felons are not significantly different from Latinos and Blacks. Response rates for Latinos are marginally significantly different from Blacks ( p=.05).

no criminal record no criminal record

Figure 2. Call-Backs or Job Offers by Race and Criminal Record

of a felony conviction presents

a disturbing picture. Blacks

remain at the very end of the

hiring queue, even in relation

to (white) applicants who have

just been released from prison.

The results here point to the

striking persistence of race in

the allocation of employment

opportunities. Employers

faced with large numbers of

applicants and little time to

evaluate them seem to view

race as an adequate means by

which to weed out undesirable

applicants upon first review.

As just one example, the

following case records this

team’s experience applying

for a position at a local auto

dealership. Joe, the black

tester, applied first and was

informed at the outset that

the only available positions

were for those with direct auto

sales experience. When Josue,

his Latino partner, applied,

the lack of direct auto sales

experience was less of a

problem. Josue reports: “He

asked me if I had any customer

service experience and I said not

really…. He then told me that

7

he wanted to get rid of a few bad

apples who were not performing

well. He asked me when I could

start….” Josue was told to

wait for a call back on Monday.

Keith, their white ex-felon

test partner, was first given

a stern lecture regarding his

criminal background. “I have

no problem with your conviction,

it doesn’t bother me. But if I find

out money is missing or you’re

not clean or not showing up on

time I have no problem ending

the relationship.” Despite the

employer’s concerns, and

despite Keith having no more

sales experience than his test

partners, Keith was offered the

job on the spot.

This example illustrates the

ways in which race can trump

even known criminality in

certain cases. Indeed, far

from racial considerations

in employment being a thing

of the past, we see that they

are alive and well and actively

shaping the opportunities

available to members of

different racial/ethnic groups.

RACE-CODED CHAnnELinG

The basic outcome of “positive

responses” measured in this

study quantifies the employers’

willingness to consider each

applicant type for a job.

But the simple distinction

between getting a job or not

captures only one piece of the

employment puzzle. In many

cases employers are hiring for

more than one position at the

same time. Examining how

employers match applicants

to job types can be further

revealing of the assumptions

employers hold about various

groups of workers.

The testers’ narratives,

reporting their experiences at

the conclusion of each audit,

provide vivid illustrations of

the kinds of the channeling

that takes place. In an audit of

a retail clothing company, for

example, one of our Hispanic

testers, Josue, encounters the

following:

Josue describes the various young

white 20-something women

running the place. One of the

women interviews him and asks

about past work experience. She

asks him what job he’s applying

for—“I told her sales associate.…

[The last serious job listed on

Josue’s resume was as a sales

assistant at a sporting goods

store].

She then told me that there was a

stock position and asked if I would

be interested in that.”

Josue ended up getting the

stocker job, and was asked to

start the next day.

In another case, one of our

black testers, Zuri, applied for

a sales position at a lighting

store. He describes the

following interaction:

When she asked what position I

was looking for I said I was open,

but that since they were looking

for a salesperson I would be

interested in that. She smiled,

put her head in her hand and her

elbow on the table and said, “I

need a stock boy. Can you do

stock boy?”

Zuri’s white and Hispanic test

8

partners, by contrast, were

each able to apply for the

advertised sales position.

The job applications of Josue

and Zuri are both coded as

“positive responses” in the

initial analyses. Indeed, our

key concern is about access

to employment of any kind.

But this general focus masks

some of the racial biases at

play. Indeed, the experience

of channeling was not limited

to a handful of cases. A more

systematic analysis of the

testers’ experiences provides

support for these anecdotal

experiences. A total of 96

cases of channeling were

recorded by the testers. 2

These cases were then

individually coded as downward

channeling, upward channeling,

lateral channeling, or unknown,

by comparing the original

job title to the suggested job

type. Downward channeling

is defined as (1) a move from

a job involving contact with

customers to a job without

(e.g., server to busboy); (2)

a move from a white collar

position to a manual position

(e.g., from dispatcher to

driver); or (3) a move in which

hierarchy can be clearly

discerned (e.g., manager to

server). Upward channeling

is defined as a move in the

opposite direction. We focus on

these two types of channeling

for our current analysis.

Instances of channeling in

which all members of the team

were channeled similarly are

eliminated (e.g., the original job

was filled and all subsequent

job applicants were invited to

apply for a different position).

The analysis of these cases

reveals fairly striking patterns

of racial categorization. Black

applicants were channeled into

lower positions in 10 cases

9

2 In the present study, when an ad listed more than one job opening, members of the audit team would agree upon which job they would apply for. Testers were instructed to communicate their interest the target job, but to express openness to any position the employer may have available. After each visit, testers recorded whether or not they were encouraged to apply for a different position than the one they originally inquired about.

and never channeled upwards,

Hispanics were channeled

down in 4 cases and never

channeled upwards, whereas

whites experienced downward

channeling in only 4 cases, and

only when showing a criminal

record (see Table 1).

A substantial number of these

cases were restaurant jobs

in which the tester applied

for a position as server but

was instead channeled into

a position as busboy or

dishwasher. Almost all were

cases in which the original

position required extensive

customer contact while the

suggested position did not

(e.g., salesperson to stocker).

While in some cases the limited

work experiences reflected on

our testers’ resumes warranted

movement into a lower-level

position, the differential

incidence by race suggests that

these decisions were not based

on qualifications alone.

In fact, a surprising degree

of channeling among our

white testers took place in

the opposite direction. In at

least five cases, white testers

were encouraged to apply for

jobs that were of a higher-level

or required more customer

contact than the initial position

they inquired about. In one

case, for example, a white

tester applied for a position

as a cleaner but was instead

encouraged to apply for a

clerical position. In another

case the tester requested an

application for the dishwasher

position, but was instead

channeled into applying for

a job as waitstaff. In at least

one case, a White tester

was encouraged to apply

for a management position,

despite his paltry level of work

experience.

It is not the case, then, that

the resumes of testers in

this study prevented them

from consideration in a wide

range of jobs, or left them on

the borderline between job

classes. In fact, the testers’

resumes were constructed so

that they would appear highly

competitive for the kinds

of low-wage jobs we were

targeting. Rather, the testers’

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race or ethnicity appears to

be associated with differential

levels of skill, competence, or

suitability for particular kinds

of work. The critical relevance

of customer contact in the

channeling decisions likewise

suggests that employers have

assumptions about what their

clients expect/prefer in the

appearance of those serving

them.

Original Job Title

Blacks channeled down Waiter Server Manager / Assistant Manager Server Server Retail Salesperson Sales Sales Promoter Server

Hispanics channeled down Waitstaff Server Server Salesperson

Whites with record channeled down Waitstaff Waitstaff Waiter Server

Whites (no record) channeled up Receptionist

Whites (with record) channeled up Line Cook Mover Dishwasher Driver

(a) employer told tester: “sales might not be right for you…”

Suggested Job

Busboy Busser Entry fast food position Busboy/Runner Busser Maintenance not specified (a) Stockboy Delivery Phone orders

Delivery person Runner Delivery person Stock person

Busser/food runner Busser Dishwasher, counter Busser/food runner

Company Supervisor

Waistaff Office / Telesales Waitstaff Auto detailing

Table 1. Job Channeling by Race, Ethnicity, & Criminal Background

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COnCLuSiOn

In contrast to public opinion

that assumes little influence of

discrimination on labor market

inequality, we find that black

job applicants are only two-

thirds as successful as equally

qualified Latinos, and little

more than half as successful

as equally qualified whites.

Indeed, black job seekers

fare no better than white men

just released from prison.

Discrimination continues to

represent a major barrier to

economic self-sufficiency for

those at the low end of the

labor market hierarchy. Blacks,

and to a lesser extent Latinos,

are routinely passed over in

favor of whites for the most

basic kinds of low-wage work.

Indeed, discrimination has not

been eliminated in the post-civil

rights period as some contend,

but remains a vital component

of a complex pattern of racial

inequality.

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This report released as part of the conference RACE AT WORK – Realities of Race and Criminal Record in the NYC Job Market which was held on December 9, 2005 at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Research for this paper was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and the JEHT Foundation.

We gratefully acknowledge the generous assistance of Commissioner Patricia L. Gatling and the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and the contributions of Glenn Martin and Debbie Mukamal of the National HIRE Network. Questions and comments can be directed to Devah Pager (pager@ princeton.edu).

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