Posted on 09/09/2006 8:38:12 AM PDT by flowerplough
What differentiates two candidates of color for a job? It's not always the résumé. In many cases, skin tone makes the difference, according to University of Georgia (UGA) doctoral student Matthew Harrison, who conducted the first study of the impact of skin tone in the workplace.
Harrison conducted the study with 240 psychology undergraduates at UGA. Each participant received one of two résumés that varied by educational and work experience. Along with the résumés, the participants received one of six pictures of candidates, all black, who varied by skin tone and gender. They then were asked to rate the candidate as a job applicant and to say how likely they would be to hire the applicant themselves.
Harrison found that dark-skinned blacks are at a significant disadvantage when it comes to employment. Even when they have higher educational attainment and more qualified résumés, participants were inclined to select their light-skinned counterparts.
"I think the ratings given are a source of the expectations our society has for those who have light skin versus those who have dark skin," Harrison said. "Additionally, I think that for women, the ratings are linked to [white perceptions of] attractiveness, which is linked to competency, and for men, I believe the media images of the violent or threatening black man create a different level of comfort around black men depending on the skin tone."
(Excerpt) Read more at diversityinc.com ...
So who were the "participants"?
Were ANY of them actual hiring managers, or just some student volunteers?
Talk about a homogenous sample set ... how many of those students had hiring experience, or even business experience for that matter? All chose psychology out of the panorama of majors and occupations. Completely subjective! And this is a doctoral level study from which to make usch a statement with immense societal implications? Irresponsible! The student and his faculty advisor should be drummed out of the school and the profession!
exactly ... sounds like a freshman term project that deserves a failing grade.
"Harrison conducted the study with 240 psychology undergraduates at UGA"
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Thanks, I missed that -- see my post, my first question was, were any of these actual hiring managers. A bunch of psychology students who never hired or supervised anyone in their lives is NOT an indication of real world hiring attitudes.
We also don't know whether the people in the pictures looked basically alike except for skin color, or whether some had "clean cut" looks and the one with dark skincolor had a huge Afro and a nosering -- which would be much more of a detraction, than the skin color.
Sounds like this was a phony study, to get a predetrmined result.
Tell me, does the article mention dress? [Were the photos face-only?] Dress is an extremely important variable that tells about the candidate. In other words, I don't think much of this study. [But I didn't register to read the whole article.]
Go surf BET etc. The attractive women are always lighter skinned than the leading man. Lighter = more attractive. This is the case whether you are dealing with whites, blacks, Latinos or Asians.
"University of Georgia (UGA) doctoral student Matthew Harrison"
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And this guy will soon be running around, with a Ph.D, attached to his name, making "expert statements".
Sad state of affairs.
Remember how much trouble Clarence Thomas had with his last job interview?
Wouldn't you expect that in a majority caucasian society? Standards of beauty are going to favor the majority. Now lets' talk about height.....And youth.....
I am really, completely PO'ed about this. Seriously. Who is UGA's accrediting authority? Goddammit, I'm going to do something about this.
For me, the darker the better. I find women of Subsaharan origin who are not "mixed out" to be quite attractive assuming they have taken good care of themselves and are not overweight.
Blacks are probably the most racist in this regard. I have heard it in my high school students. The light-skinned blacks call the dark-skinned ones "greasespots", and when the kid enters the class they say "Is that you, so-and-so, I can't see you!" The dark-skinned ones always call the light-skinned ones "Whitey" or "Redbone" (which of course says they are a mulatto mix).
Most whites really see no difference in the shade of black, blacks see otherwise.
��5{��������rads had a deep-seated need for approval, in the form of a good grade. Can anyone doubt that expectations were telegraphed prior to this laughable "study," and, being the good little students that they are, they delivered the expected result?
I did a search and there are a few articles about this study, where you don't need to register. Knowing more facts, just makes it more obvious what a phony study this was. Totally agenda driven, by a biased "researcher", if I can use the term very loosely.
Here is a link to another article about it:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/08/skin_tone.html
"The findings in this study are, tragically, not too surprising," said Matthew Harrison, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia.
While there have been other studies of effects of "colorism" socially, this is the first study designed specifically to examine how it operates in hiring and in the workplace.
"While the respondents in this study were University of Georgia students, we think we would find the same response no matter where such a study was done in the country," said Thomas.
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Except that they asked a bunch of fellow students, NOT people in real hiring positions. "we think we would find the same response" -- now there is a "scientific fact" (/sarcasm) What a phony!
They also don't tell us what was the race mix of the "evaluators".
This reminds me of an old SNL skit with Garret Morris, Julian Bond and Fran Tarkenton over why there were only a few black quaterbacks in the NFL.
LOL! Since when does the perfectly politically correct media engage in such images?
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