Our discussion of affirmative action in class last week came up again over the weekend while I was at work. At work, I am sometimes responsible for calling potential employees for job interviews. As I looked through the job applications, I noticed that the actual application incorporated a statement describing the organization as being an equal opportunity employer. It made me think back to Dr. Fathman's description of exactly what affirmative action is and how it actually works. I was interested in how affirmative action and equal opportunity employment would actually play out at my place of employment.
As I continued to look through the applications, I realized that MOST of the names on the applications were ones that I could not pronounce. The head of the department for whom I was scheduling the interviews walked by and I jokingly commented that she was making my life difficult by choosing applicants with names I could not pronounce. She then came over and had a long conversation with me. She told me that she took an individual's ethnicity into account when deciding which applicants to give an interview. She proceeded to describe which ethnicity could be counted on to work hard, which were lazy, which were most agreeable, etc. In all honesty, I was completely shocked. I could not believe that she was openly discussing such blatant stereotyping and racism. I called her out on her racism and she commented that it was simply the truth.
I guess I was just shocked that people could be categorized and stereotyped in such a blatant manner. I thought her comments were stereotypical and unfair. Additionally, I found the stereotypes to discourage the use of evaluating the applicants according to ability and potential. Was I being too sensitive to what she was saying? I wonder, how does this stereotyping fall into the statement of being an equal opportunity employer? Are the stereotypes okay if the employer is hiring minority individuals?
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Hey Christine,
ReplyDeleteI don't think you were being too sensitive to what she was saying at all - and if your boss REALLY said, "it was simply the truth," word for word - I would ask where she was getting her statistics. The fact that it is happening within the company - as I'm sure it does within many, many, many companies - does not mean that it is an equal opportunity employer to me. You then asked if it was okay if the employer was still hiring minority individuals. This DOESN'T make it okay, and I think we'd have a tendency to say, "Well - some minorities are still getting hired, so at least it's not as bad as other companies who hire only white people." Yeah - it's good minorities are being hired, but the fact that it is happening kind of speaks about the incompetence of your boss; ESPECIALLY if she is basing it off a name. I mean, what about people who were born in the US but just inherited a foreign name? They are just as likely to be hard workers over someone with a white name.
I was looking back on a post, and Dr. Fathman so succinctly put it:
"Racism includes an unquestioning acceptance of the connotations that get associated with a group because when we don't [question] we are as much as accepting that one's race, which we determine by skin color, etc., also determines a whole host of other traits like criminality, laziness, studiousness, morality, and so on."
Your boss is falling into that category of unquestioning acceptance - and I would be curious to know who she is hiring and what information she is using to give priority to certain individuals.
In my mind, E.O.E. is only those that are -duh- equal and give interviews based off of work experience & competency, reliability, etc. Anyone with a legitimate resume and references should be screened with an interview and determined in person, and even then still not based off of skin color, origin of birth, religion, etc. I my mind, on applications names, race, ethnicity, should be last, and work experience should be first. If you get to the last part thinking, "Wow this person seems amazing" and then you see a name and determine, "Wow, that ethnicity will never do" - then there is a problem. Putting name, etc. first already creates a bias in interpreting further information.
Also, don't be shocked that people are "categorized and stereotyped in such a blatant manner." It probably happened hundreds of times within the few seconds I took to write this post. It's an unfortunate part of society - and constantly perpetuated by the media and lack of education.
ReplyDeleteChristine,
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will remember this incident when it is you who gets to decide who will get an interview and who will not! I think it's a good question to pose to your HR department: what is meant by EOE, and how does this company practice that?
It's sad to think that this sort of thing still happens, but it does, as you have witnessed.
I find it curious that the woman you work with found it so easy to go about discussing a topic that is often considered taboo or something discussed outside of a professional environment (unless one works for the ACLU or something). Furthermore, I am shocked that she would do so if the company considers itself to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Her blind acceptance of such stereotypes does not surprise me because it makes her job easier and people often expand stereotypes or their personal experiences to entire classifications of people. Yet what is said behind "closed doors" is supposed to stay there in her mind. Because the appearance of being an E.O.E. is far more important than actually being one. That is how one deepens the talent pool of potential employees. Political correctness is still the name of the game, and appearance is more important than reality in the corporate world. Sadly, it seems that it will stay that way, as evidenced by your experience Christine. In my opinion, this instance proves that there needs to be more oversight for the certification/designation of any company or organization as an E.O.E.
ReplyDeleteOn another wave length, Dr. Fathman makes a great point about asking direct questions during job searches or interviews. It is one that I will have to remember for future reference.