The world is a very different place today than it was back in 1989. However, in one way, researchers say that nothing has really changed since then. They claim that the discrimination that African-Americans face when trying to get jobs is exactly the same.
The study was carried out by professionals working at the Institute for Social Research, Northwestern University and Harvard. They looked over all of the data and field experiments that have been completed, starting in 1989 and ending in 2015.
What they found is that getting a job, for an African-American, is just as hard today. While it may feel like racism in the workplace has declined, the statistics tell another story entirely.
The data was gathered in different ways. For example, they considered the amount of callbacks that people got when turning in applications or resumes with “stereotypically black” names versus “stereotypically white” names. The qualifications were the same, but the names set the applicants apart.
They also gathered data just by looking at how many calls people got after in-person interviews, when they had similar qualifications and similar interview questions.
They found that those who are white tend to get callbacks 36 percent more often than those who are African-American. Again, these are people who are 100 percent equally qualified for the positions. They simply got different numbers of callbacks based on their names or physical appearance.
Studies like this show just how prominent discrimination is today, even with all of the other changes in society. You must know what legal options you have to fight discrimination.