Study reveals persistent hiring discrimination against minority groups

Despite the advent of anti-discrimination laws and a shift in social norms favoring diversity, hiring discrimination persists against racial and ethnic minorities, according to a new study from Northwestern sociologists Lincoln Quillian and John J. Lee.

Data from six North American and Western European countries shows that discrimination in hiring has remained steady over several decades for four minority groups. Quillian, a professor at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, believes that enforcement and accountability can help reduce future discrimination.

“The biggest takeaway was that on average, there has been no change in hiring discrimination when combining data across six countries — Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, the Netherlands, and the U.S. — together,” said Quillian. “There’s a broad pattern of stability. We also identified a few other interesting trends, including both increases and decreases in hiring discrimination for particular groups and countries.”

Quillian’s current work is focused primarily on two projects.  The first project is a meta-analysis of audit and correspondence studies of racial and ethnic discrimination in labor markets around the world.  The second project analyzes residential mobility patterns to better understand the sources of racial and economic residential segregation in American cities.

Continue reading in Northwestern Now’s article, “Hiring discrimination: The problem that won’t go away.”