Event

The SCOOP and SOCION offices are pleased to invite you to Dr. Stephen Bernard’s lecture, titled “Who Fits In? An Audit Study of Asian-Origin Applicants in Social and Technical Occupations.”

Time: 16:00-17:30

Location: Gadourek Hall (B0126), University of Groningen

Abstract:

People of Asian origin occupy a unique place in the United States. Currently growing faster than any other racial or ethnic group, many Americans perceive Asians as a “model minority” due to their high average levels of educational attainment and income. Consistent with this unique position, Asians in the United States experience a distinctive mix of positive and negative stereotypes, which depict them as competent and technically skilled, but also lacking social and interpersonal skills. Given these mixed stereotypes, we ask whether Asian job applicants are disadvantaged relative to US-born White applicants to a greater degree in jobs requiring social skills, compared to those emphasizing technical skills. To answer this question, we report a preregistered field experiment in conducted in 11 US cities, in which we apply to job postings using fictional job applicants, including women and men of ostensibly foreign-born Chinese, US-born Chinese, or US-born White origin. We find, consistent with our hypotheses, that foreign-born Chinese-origin job candidates are called back significantly less often than White US-born job candidates, and that this difference is driven by occupations emphasizing social skills, and not those emphasizing technical skills. More surprisingly, from our theoretical perspective, is that these differences occur for men, but not women. Further, we find that callback rates for US-born Chinese men vary by whether their resumes mention English fluency: when they do, these applicants are called back at rates similar to US-born White men, and when they do not, they are called back at rates similar to foreign-born Chinese men. Our work speaks to debates about whether and to what extent Asians in the US have reached social and economic parity.

Bio:

Stephen is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Indiana, Bloomington (USA). His research focuses on status, conflict, identity, and inequality in intergroup relations. Stephen’s current projects include NSF-funded studies of (1) how identity-based revenge and forgiveness in shape social status in groups, and (2) perceptions of Asian Americans in the United States and their implications for inequality.

We look forward to seeing you there!