Researchers at the RPTU University Kaiserslautern-Landau have investigated who is discriminated against and under what conditions when applying for a job or promotion. The results show that a high qualification is a good prerequisite for being judged fairly. However, even small pieces of additional information can activate stereotypes – and turn the tide against applicants.

People often belong to more than one group about which there are clichés, so-called negative stereotypes. The associated prejudice is relevant in the labour market, for example: not getting the job because you are a woman, have a certain sexual orientation or come from a migrant family is precisely the suspicion that plagues many applicants when they are not considered for a job or promotion. Two studies conducted by a team led by social psychologist Melanie Steffens at RPTU investigated whether extraneous reasons such as group affiliation are taken into account when assessing a person in a professional context, or whether professional qualifications alone are decisive when filling a position. The experiments were funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

For a recent publication in "Collabra: Psychology", 212 study participants evaluated fictitious job applications from female surgeons. The study participants were randomly selected individuals - with and without management experience - and asked to decide which of the women they would hire and which they would not. The female applicants to be judged had light or dark skin, as shown in an application photo. They were in a relationship with a man or a woman, as indicated by additional information in the application documents. In addition, they described themselves in the application with four traits that were either exclusively competence-related or additionally warmth-related. Competency or action-oriented traits - which, according to numerous studies, the vast majority of people in Western cultures consider to be traditionally masculine - include, for example, assertiveness, dominance or ambition. Warmth-related or relationship-oriented traits - which research has shown to be considered traditionally feminine by the vast majority of people in Western cultures - include traits such as team orientation, helpfulness and empathy.

High qualifications outweigh negative stereotypes
"To our surprise, we found no evidence of discrimination in the study of female surgeons," says Steffens, summarising the results. Apparently, applying for a leadership position as a female surgeon is enough to overcome negative stereotypes. All women were judged positively, regardless of their social group or the characteristics they attributed to themselves. What was unique about the study was that the researchers had a large sample of different applications assessed. Each participant was asked to rate 32 applications. In most traditional studies with a similar research question, however, participants only rate one application. According to the researcher, discrimination may have been overestimated because it could be greater in individual cases than on average.

In an earlier study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 746 participants were asked to rate female job applicants with German and Turkish names. They were given either only positive information about the applicants or information that indicated a job-related weakness. According to the research, the majority of people in Western cultures classify this weakness as either "traditionally masculine" or "traditionally feminine". Melanie Steffens: "Traditionally masculine was, for example, that female candidates in a previous project had made decisions without consulting the team.” In other words, they behaved in a power-oriented way. On the other hand, it was a traditionally feminine weakness if a female candidate did not dare to express her opinion in team meetings. The participants in the study were then asked to decide which of four women (with a German or Turkish name, each with a positive assessment, and with a German or Turkish name with a weakness) they would exclude from a fictitious team and which they would promote.

The result: German and Turkish women were equally likely to be promoted if no weaknesses were mentioned – Turkish women even tended to be promoted a bit more. However, a typically feminine weakness led to the Turkish woman being excluded more often than the German woman. "Our interpretation is that a negative female stereotype is more easily activated for Turkish women than for Germans". The opposite result occurred for typically masculine weaknesses: here the German woman was excluded more often than the Turkish woman. Apparently, Turkish women are more allowed than German women to transgress prescribed stereotypes for 'career women'.

Even small amounts of additional information can activate stereotypes
Melanie Steffens concludes: "Excellent qualifications are a good prerequisite for being judged fairly. However, even small amounts of additional information can activate stereotypes and patterns of discrimination". If someone belongs to several groups at the same time (Turkish-female, female-Black-lesbian), this can have complex effects that are difficult to predict in everyday life. The findings are not only important for working people: "Similar processes can also be expected when applying for university places or internships." The social psychologist recommends to counteract discrimination in the world of work, applicants should focus on their good qualifications; those making the decision should ignore social group affiliations as much as possible and be aware that humans tend to weight information differently depending on the person.