Department for Work and Pensions Research Report No 607 A test for racial discrimination in recruitment practice in British cities Martin Wood,Jon Hales,Susan Purdon,Tanja Sejersen and Oliver Hayllar A report of research carried out by National Centre for Social Research on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions Research Report No 607 A test for racial discrimination in recruitment practice in British cities Martin Wood, Jon Hales, Susan Purdon, Tanja Sejersen and Oliver Hayllar A report of research carried out by National Centre for Social Research on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions
Contents 讯 Contents Acknowledgements 。。 The Authors.… Glossary... vii Summary… 1 1 Background.............. 1.1 Introduction.... .7 1.2 Ethnic minority penalties in the labour market................ 1.3 Policy measures to reduce inequality.................9. 1.4 Recruitment practices and discrimination in employment.........11 1.5 Field experiment approaches:actors and correspondence tests........12 2 Test design.... .15 2.1 Acorrespondence test............... .15 2.2 Number of applications per set.... 16 2.3 Conveying racial identity.............. 16 2.4 Cities… 19 2.5 Occupations......... 19 2.6 Identifying job adverts for the study.............. .20 2.7 Developing applications........... 21 2.8 Assessing response................. 23 2.8.1 Addresses...... 23 2.82 Email and telephone details. .24
Contents iii Contents Acknowledgements........................................................................................... v The Authors...................................................................................................... vi Glossary........................................................................................................... vii Summary ...........................................................................................................1 1 Background .................................................................................................7 1.1 Introduction.......................................................................................7 1.2 Ethnic minority penalties in the labour market ...................................7 1.3 Policy measures to reduce inequality ..................................................9 1.4 Recruitment practices and discrimination in employment .................11 1.5 Field experiment approaches: actors and correspondence tests ........12 2 Test design.................................................................................................15 2.1 A correspondence test.....................................................................15 2.2 Number of applications per set ........................................................16 2.3 Conveying racial identity..................................................................16 2.4 Cities...............................................................................................19 2.5 Occupations ....................................................................................19 2.6 Identifying job adverts for the study.................................................20 2.7 Developing applications...................................................................21 2.8 Assessing response ..........................................................................23 2.8.1 Addresses..........................................................................23 2.82 Email and telephone details...............................................24
iⅳ Contents 2.9 Sample of vacancies..................... .24 2.9.1 Size of sample achieved. 24 2.9.2 25 0 ccupati0门S....... 2.9.3 Locations.......... 26 2.9.4 Market sector............ .27 2.9.5 Size of organisation......... 28 2.9.6 Gender........ 28 2.9.7 Application process variables 29 ............................................................................. 3.1 Overall racial discrimination..... .31 3.2 Alternative presentations of the level of discrimination.....................33 3.3 Discrimination for individual ethnic groups............................ 35 3.4 Occupation and sector. 38 3.5 Size of employer 40 3.6 Area and gender. 41 3.7 Variation in the application process................. 42 4 Conclusions.… .…47 Appendix A Technical appendix.............................. 49 Appendix B Procedures document for team producing applications...........51 Appendix C Occupation descriptions used to identify eligible vacancies..........61 List of tables Table 2.1 Results of testing of name recognition................ 18 Table 2.2 Names used in study19 Table 2.3 Locations in sample................. 26 Table 2.4 Market sector and industry classification of employers in sample........... .27 Table 2.5 Number of employees at site.............. 28 Table 2.6 Gender of applications... 28 Table 2.7 Occupation of applications by gender........ 29 Table 2.8 Application process for sample of vacancies......30 Table 3.1 Overall racial discrimination32 Table 3.2 Treatment within sets of applications........ 33
iv 2.9 Sample of vacancies.........................................................................24 2.9.1 Size of sample achieved.....................................................24 2.9.2 Occupations......................................................................25 2.9.3 Locations...........................................................................26 2.9.4 Market sector....................................................................27 2.9.5 Size of organisation...........................................................28 2.9.6 Gender..............................................................................28 2.9.7 Application process variables.............................................29 3 Results.......................................................................................................31 3.1 Overall racial discrimination .............................................................31 3.2 Alternative presentations of the level of discrimination.....................33 3.3 Discrimination for individual ethnic groups.......................................35 3.4 Occupation and sector.....................................................................38 3.5 Size of employer..............................................................................40 3.6 Area and gender..............................................................................41 3.7 Variation in the application process..................................................42 4 Conclusions...............................................................................................47 Appendix A Technical appendix......................................................................49 Appendix B Procedures document for team producing applications...............51 Appendix C Occupation descriptions used to identify eligible vacancies..........61 List of tables Table 2.1 Results of testing of name recognition........................................18 Table 2.2 Names used in study...................................................................19 Table 2.3 Locations in sample ....................................................................26 Table 2.4 Market sector and industry classification of employers in sample....................................................................................27 Table 2.5 Number of employees at site ......................................................28 Table 2.6 Gender of applications................................................................28 Table 2.7 Occupation of applications by gender.........................................29 Table 2.8 Application process for sample of vacancies................................30 Table 3.1 Overall racial discrimination ........................................................32 Table 3.2 Treatment within sets of applications..........................................33 Contents
Contents Table 3.3 Success rates and an alternative presentation of discrimination...34 Table 3.4 Discrimination for individual ethnic groups......................36 Table 3.5 Success rates for individual ethnic groups.......... 37 Table 3.6 Discrimination by occupation............39 Table 3.7 Discrimination by employment sector of employer 39 Table 3.8 Type of application for public and private sector.4o Table 3.9 Discrimination by number of employees at site .41 Table 3.10 Discrimination by location of employer...................41 Table 3.11 Racial discrimination by gender............... 42 Table 3.12 Discrimination and recruitment process variables..... 43 Table 3.13 Number of employees at site by type of application .44 Table 3.14 Format of application by mode of despatch.......44 List of figures Figure 2.1 Occupations in sample. .26 References... AA E S A E L A E M A L S A E S A E L A E S A L S A E S A E 67
v Table 3.3 Success rates and an alternative presentation of discrimination...34 Table 3.4 Discrimination for individual ethnic groups..................................36 Table 3.5 Success rates for individual ethnic groups ...................................37 Table 3.6 Discrimination by occupation......................................................39 Table 3.7 Discrimination by employment sector of employer ......................39 Table 3.8 Type of application for public and private sector..........................40 Table 3.9 Discrimination by number of employees at site ...........................41 Table 3.10 Discrimination by location of employer .......................................41 Table 3.11 Racial discrimination by gender...................................................42 Table 3.12 Discrimination and recruitment process variables ........................43 Table 3.13 Number of employees at site by type of application ....................44 Table 3.14 Format of application by mode of despatch ................................44 List of figures Figure 2.1 Occupations in sample................................................................26 References.......................................................................................................67 Contents
Acknowledgements vii Acknowledgements The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen)was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions(DWP)to carry out this study of discrimination. The authors would like to thank Pauline Heather,Del Jenkins and David Johnson at DWP for their identification of the need for such an approach and their support and guidance throughout the study. Special thanks to the operations team at NatCen's Brentwood office who developed the thousands of applications sent during the study:Neil Barton, Ed Garstin,Sarah Allcock,Becky Aldridge,Debbie Bagheri,Pete Baker, Alexis Bassett,Carol Bell,Bryan Mason,Kalpna Moore,Chris Shaw and Elise Yarrow.Thanks too to Christianah lyaniwura and Yachien Huang. Sir Roger Jowell and Professor Anthony Heath acted as advisors to the project,and our thanks to them for their valuable guidance
Acknowledgements vii Acknowledgements The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to carry out this study of discrimination. The authors would like to thank Pauline Heather, Del Jenkins and David Johnson at DWP for their identification of the need for such an approach and their support and guidance throughout the study. Special thanks to the operations team at NatCen’s Brentwood office who developed the thousands of applications sent during the study: Neil Barton, Ed Garstin, Sarah Allcock, Becky Aldridge, Debbie Bagheri, Pete Baker, Alexis Bassett, Carol Bell, Bryan Mason, Kalpna Moore, Chris Shaw and Elise Yarrow. Thanks too to Christianah Iyaniwura and Yachien Huang. Sir Roger Jowell and Professor Anthony Heath acted as advisors to the project, and our thanks to them for their valuable guidance