Thesis-The Effects of Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation on Hiring Discrimination through Resume Studies

Running Head: HIRING DISCRIMINATION IN RESUME 1
Effects of Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation on Hiring Discrimination in
Resume Evaluations
Jonathan Pfefer
Connecticut College

HIRING DISCRIMINATION IN RESUME 2
Abstract
Most employers are unaware that they contribute to hiring discrimination when they evaluate
resumes. The goal of the current study is to examine whether ethnicity or sexual orientation will
significantly influence people’s impressions when reading an applicant’s resume. To measure
implicit discrimination, an experimental and between subject design was created. A Qualtrics
survey, containing a Willingness to Hire Scale, a Leadership Scale, a Work Experience Scale,
and an Extracurricular Activity Scale, was given to 108 Amazon Mechanical Turkers, which
consisted of 51 men and 57 women; almost all of them were Caucasian and heterosexual. The
participants were randomly divided into 4 groups, those reading a resume of a
French/Heterosexual applicant (n = 27), those reading a resume of a French/Homosexual
applicant (n = 29), those reading a resume of an Arab/Heterosexual applicant (n = 25), and those
reading a resume of an Arab/Homosexual applicant (n = 27). A Factorial MANOVA was
conducted and revealed no significant main effect for Ethnicity (p = .888), no significant main
effect for Sexual Orientation (p = .779) and no interaction between the two independent variables
(p = .341). Implications of the insignificant results, as well as the limitations of the study are
discussed.
Keywords: hiring discrimination, resume studies, willingness to hire, ethnicity, sexual
orientation

Effects of Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation on Hiring Discrimination in
Resume Evaluations
Today, thousands of people from all walks of life have a tougher time finding a job as a
result of hiring discrimination, and the impact it has on the labor market cannot be
overemphasized enough. Because hiring discrimination operates explicitly and in a variety of
very subtle ways, it makes it nearly impossible to prevent. Given the magnitude of this issue, an
extensive amount of research has been used to investigate the different kinds of people that are
subject to hiring discrimination through resume screenings. One study analyzed employer bias
towards applicants with disabilities (Gouvier, Jordan, & Mayville, 2003). Even after the
“American with Disabilities Act” (ADA) was enacted by Congress in 1990, the research shows
that employers still tend to discriminate against applicants based on the combination of their
disability and the cognitive demand that the job entails. Out of all the disabilities, an applicant
with a mental illness will be the least likely hired, as opposed to an applicant with a back injury.
The authors of “Praeger handbook on understanding and preventing workplace discrimination”
would also argue that “despite the ADA, applicants and employees still face discriminatory
treatment in the workplace because of prejudice and discriminatory attitudes held by managers
and co-workers”(Paludi, DeSouza, & Dodd, 2011, p. 17 ). This comes to show that even when
the government enacts policies that protect against discrimination, such as the ADA, the negative
stigma of mental illnesses still overpowers them.
Gender discrimination has also been under much scrutiny lately. Even today with society
pushing for gender equality, there have been many studies that show that “women get paid less
than men for similar jobs, are less likely to be promoted, are evaluated more negatively and are

seen as having less of a leadership role than men” (Nadler, & Kufahl, 2014, p. 270). A study has
attempted to explain gender discrimination by pointing to earlier times, when women were
statistically less educated than men (Jacques, & Walkowiak, 2009). However, other studies have
demonstrated that gender stereotyping is a more credible explanation for current gender
discrimination since most people associate traits with a certain gender (e.g., men are seen as
dominant and independent whereas women are seen as nurturing and dependent). For example,
researchers Ahrentzen and Groat (1992) state that the gendering of genius (genius and creativity
viewed as a male trait) is an explanation as to why women only make up 15 percent of those
practicing architectural professions. Another study has observed the relationship between
common resume qualifications (e.g., education, work experience, and extracurricular activities)
and gender stereotyping from the perspective of men and women employers (Cole, Feild, &
Giles, 2004). The findings suggest that the gender of the employer and the gender of the
applicant interacted to predict the evaluation of the employer’s judgment on the applicant’s
qualification. For example, employers who are women perceive applicants who are men to have
more work experience than they do applicants who are women. As a result of gender
stereotyping and because work experience is one of the most important factors in a resume, men
are usually hired more often than are women.
LGBT members have always been subjected to discrimination in our society yet
American attitudes toward gay rights have become much more liberal over the past decade. With
the recent increase in laws protecting LGBT members, many studies have investigated the extent
to which employers discriminate against applicants based on their sexuality. As of now there has
not been a conclusive answer due to the fact that many studies have conflicting results. One
study investigated hiring discrimination against openly gay men in resume screenings (Tilcsik,

2011). The result shows that perceived heterosexual applicants were invited for interviews 40 %
more often than were homosexual applicants. In other words, on average, a heterosexual
applicant had to apply to 9 jobs to get invited whereas a homosexual applicant had to apply to 14
jobs to get invited. A contrasting study investigated whether “formal, institutionalized
procedures to restrict official work related rewards (e.g., self-actualization), and informal,
unofficial actions and non-institutionalized policies that enable harassment, were detected upon
first contact between the homosexual applicant and the employer” (Bailey, Wallace, & Wright,
2013, p. 176). It was concluded that there was no significant evidence that homosexual
applicants were discriminated against in their first encounter with the employers. Another study
that supported Bailey’ study, showed that there was no relationship between job satisfaction and
sexual orientation, concluding that “lesbian and gay employees did not differ from heterosexual
employees in bullying, unequal opportunities, or burn-out symptoms” (Kuyper, 2014, p. 1). The
reason for the contrasting conclusions most likely stems from the difference in the states at hand.
Residents of States vary in their general attitudes towards homosexuality. When comparing the
attitudes of residents in Texas, which is a more conservative state, and the attitudes of residents
in Connecticut, which is a more liberal state, we would surely obtain different results.
The most common form of hiring discrimination in our society is discrimination based
off ethnicity and race. “Despite minority gains in educational and occupational attainment, labor
force surveys show substantial and persistent racial gaps in employment and earnings. Employer
survey and resume studies both provide evidence of differential treatment of minority job
seekers” (Moore, 2011, p. 910). The belief of the origin of racial discrimination has evolved
throughout recent history. In the late 20th Century, Mark Cohen, the author of Culture
Intolerance: Chauvinism, Class and Racism in the United States, would argue that discrimination

is not a racial problem but a cultural one “rooted in the assumptions of mainstream American
culture, not in the biological deficiencies of minorities” (Cohen, 1998, p. 325). In addition,
Cohen also states that “definitions of intelligence, IQ tests, hiring practices, and evaluations of
job performance contain many more cultural biases than we recognize and thus restrict the
opportunities of minority individuals” (Cohen, 1998, p. 325). Cohen’s reasoning would explain
why non-indigenous Australian Human Resources Professionals would rather hire non-
indigenous Australian men rather than indigenous Australian men or indigenous Australian
women (Hughes, & Davidson, 2012). Indigenous Australian men and indigenous Australian
women, described in the study as primitive aboriginal tribal people, have not followed the
culture’s mainstream and thus suffer a significant disadvantage in the hiring process. The same
concept applies in a similar study where researchers compared the different ways Western ethnic
majority and non-Western ethnic minority graduates portrayed themselves in their resumes
(Hiemstra, Derous, Serlie, & Born, 2013). While Western ethnic majority graduates represented
societies’ “in-group” and reflected the culture’s values and expectations in their resumes, the
non-Western ethnic minority graduates represented the “out-group” of society and exhibited a
lack of cultural familiarity in their resumes. Ethnic minority graduates did in fact receive lower
grades in academic achievement, work experience, and extracurricular activities than did ethnic
majority applicants.
In the early 21st Century, a different kind of ethnic discrimination rose out of fear and
hatred. For a very long time, Arabs have been affiliated with terrorism but after the attack of
9/11, Arab descendants have been the main target of prejudice and discrimination in the United
States. “Individuals out of Arab descent have increasingly reported experiencing social prejudice
and labor discrimination in Western Nations” (Derous, & Ryan 2012, pp. 464-465). As made

evident in a study, Ethnic Minority applicants (Arabs) were rejected 4-6 times more than were
Ethnic Majority applicants (White) (Derous et al, 2012). Adding on to this study was the
investigation of the impact of implicit (negative attitudes) and explicit (negative behavior)
discrimination of Arab applicants. The findings concluded that both implicit and explicit
attitudes equally contributed to the increase in discrimination towards Arabs (Blommaert, van
Tubergen, & Coenders, 2012). Another study took a look at a situation from a Social Identity
perspective. “According to the Social Identity Theory, discriminatory behaviors against members
of a certain ethnic group may not blanket every group member. An implication is that the degree
of Arab ethnics identify with their group may influence how strong the level of unemployment
discrimination is” (Derous, Nguyen, & Ryan, 2009, p. 298). As reflected in resumes, by
manipulating the degree to which the applicant’s name (e.g., White sounding name) and
affiliation (e.g., professional societies, community work) is being associated with its ethnical
identity in resumes, the experimenters were able to conclude that the stronger the Arab
applicants identified with their group, the stronger the hiring discrimination was against them
(Derous et al., 2009).
The proposed research will expand on past resume studies by constructing a 2 x 2
experimental design where ethnicity (Arab and French) is crossed with sexual orientation
(Homosexual and Heterosexual). The researcher will compare the differences in “willingness to
hire” scores, “leadership” scores, “work experience” scores, and “extracurricular” scores
between four resumes to determine if there is any significant hiring discrimination as a result of
the independent variables. Most literature findings would reach the same conclusion that
“various forms of minority status, including visible (e.g., ethnic) and invisible (e.g., religion),
perceivably controllable (e.g., obesity) and uncontrollable (e.g., physical disability status), and

between widely studied (e.g., sex) and understudied (e.g., sexual orientation) forms, submit to
unfair employment discrimination” (Marcus, 2013, p. 489).That is why the researcher
hypothesizes that the resume that hints at the combination of both Minority levels (the Arabic
and homosexual applicant) will receive lower scores on all four dependent variables while the
resume that hints at the combination of both Majority levels (the French and heterosexual
applicant) will receive the highest scores on all four dependent variables. Since literature has
shown more conclusive findings on discrimination based off ethnicity rather than findings on
sexual orientation discrimination, the researcher also hypothesizes that ethnicity will have a
greater impact on hiring discrimination compared to the impact that sexual orientation has on
hiring discrimination.
Method
Participants
108 Amazon Mechanical Turk workers, that resided in the United States and were at least
18 years of age, participated in this experiment; 47.2% were men, while 52.8% were women. Out
of the 108 participants, 52.8% were Caucasian, 27.8% were Asian, 6.5% were Indian, 4.6% were
African American, 1.9% were Latino, and 6.4% identified themselves as “other.” In regards to
their sexuality, 86.1% identified themselves as Heterosexual, while 13.9% identified themselves
as Homosexual. The 108 participants were randomly distributed to 4 conditions; Resume 1 had
27 participants, Resume 2 had 29 participants, Resume 3 had 25 participants, and Resume 4 had
27 participants. This experiment had a 35% drop out rate.
Materials
Willingness to Hire

The “Willingness to Hire” dependent variable has been mentioned in many studies as the
acceptance or rejection rate of applicants. While most of these studies used an audit test to
measure rejection rates (Derous et al, 2012, p. 467), the researcher preferred to use a simplified
rating scale, similar to the scale used in (Gerdes, & Garber, 1983), as the appropriate measure.
The question asked before the participants is “How likely would you hire this applicant?” and
responses will be scored on a 7- point rating scale ranging from “extremely unlikely” to
“extremely likely” (see Appendix F). No previous literature to the researcher’s knowledge has
used this particular scale and the internal consistency, along with the Cronbach alpha of the
scale, remains a mystery.
Leadership Scores
Leadership potential in applicants is a valued skill in the labor market and is highly
sought out by employers. As a result, many studies have tried to measure leadership skills in
resumes and compare it to applicants in a wide variety of social groups to test hiring
discrimination (Hiemstra et al., 2013). To measure leadership skills, the researcher asked “How
would you rate the applicant’s leadership potential?” and used a 7-point rating scale, similar to
the scale used in (Gerders et al., 1983), ranging from “extremely low” to “extremely high,” to
collect data from the participants (see Appendix G). No previous literature to the researcher’s
knowledge has used this particular scale and the internal consistency, along with the Cronbach
alpha of the scale, remains a mystery.
Work Experience Scores
The degree of work experience is a reason why many applicants get hired over others in
many different fields; that is why internships are highly recommended for students. The topic of

investigation of many studies involved the comparison of work experience in applicants of
different backgrounds because it is believed that employer’s impressions of applicant’s work
experience in resume, go beyond factual information, and resides more from the attitude that the
employer has on the social group of the applicant (Hiemstra et al., 2013). To measure the degree
of work experience, the researcher asked “How would you rate the applicant’s work
experience?” and used a 7-point scale, similar to the scale used in (Gerders et al., 1983), ranging
from “extremely low” to “extremely high,” to collect data from the participants (see Appendix
H). No previous literature to the researcher’s knowledge has used this particular scale and the
internal consistency, along with the Cronbach alpha of the scale, remains a mystery.
Extracurricular Activity Scores
Similarly to work experience, the amount of extracurricular activities might be more
important than academic achievements in the eyes of the employer because it translates to more
hands on experience and as a result, the applicant will usually take less time to learn a job as well
as less time wasted for an employer to train the individual. This dependent variable has also
been the point of interest of many resume studies (Cole et al., 2004) (Hiemstra et al., 2013) and
that is why it is a major component of resume evaluations in this study as well. To measure the
amount of extracurricular activities, the researcher asked “How would you rate the amount of
extracurricular activities in the given resume?” and used a 7-point scale, similar to the scale used
in (Gerders et al., 1983), ranging from “extremely low” to “extremely high,” to collect data from
the participants (see Appendix I). No previous literature to the researcher’s knowledge has used
this particular scale and the internal consistency, along with the Cronbach alpha of the scale,
remains a mystery.

Technology
Amazon Turk workers needed a computer or laptop to receive and complete the survey
on Qualtrics.
Procedure
After having finished creating the survey on Qualtrics, the researcher sent out his survey
to a batch of 163 Mechanical Turk Workers (35% drop out rate), that were paid .50 cents in
exchange for their responses. The researcher excluded Master Turkers and specified that he only
wanted workers that resided in the United States and were at least 18 years of age.
Upon clicking the survey link, the participants were all told that they were taking part in a
study on willingness to hire and resume evaluations and had to provide informed consent by
ticking an electronic box that acknowledged that they had read and accepted the terms (see
Appendix A).
After the participants gave their consent, the participants were told that they had 3
minutes to read their assigned Resume carefully and to its entirety. They were also told that after
the 3 minutes were over, the Resume would disappear and they would be redirected to the
evaluations, where they had to answer questions in regards to their impressions on the Resume.
They were than randomly assigned to the four condition groups: Resume 1 hinted at a French
heterosexual applicant (see Appendix B), Resume 2 hinted at a French homosexual applicant
(see Appendix C), Resume 3 hinted at an Arab heterosexual applicant (see Appendix D), and
Resume 4 hinted at an Arab homosexual applicant (see Appendix E). After reading the Resume
for 3 minutes, the participants had to answer a question on each of the four scales: the

Willingness to Hire Scale (see Appendix F), the Leadership Scale (see Appendix G), the Work
Experience Scale (see Appendix H), and the Extracurricular Activity Scale (see Appendix I).
Once the participants finished answering the questionnaire, the participants were asked to
fill out some demographic information about themselves, regarding their age, their gender, their
race, their ethnicity and their sexual orientation (see Appendix J). They were also required to
answer another set of questions about their experience with discrimination in the work place (see
Appendix J). Lastly, the participants had to answer three manipulation check questions regarding
the demographics of the applicant (see Appendix J).
After they finished answering the questions, the participants were debriefed and informed
about the topic of interest (see Appendix K). The participants were than given a code and in
order to get paid, they had to copy and paste the code into their account. Their results were than
collected and tested.
Ethical Issues
This experiment relied on passive deception to conceal the research hypothesis from the
participants. By not minimizing demand characteristics, the participants would have understood
the topic of investigation, which would have skewed the results considerably. The deception
used is minor and did not harm the participants in any way.
ResearchDesign
This research is a true experimental and between-subjects design. The test is also a 2 x 2
Factorial design with two independent variables (Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation) containing
two levels each (French + Arabic, Heterosexual+Homosexual) and four dependent variables

(willingness to hire scores, leadership scores, work experience scores, extracurricular activity
scores).
Results
To test all three hypotheses that 1) the Resume with both Majority levels will receive
higher scores on all four dependent variables, 2) the Resume with both Minority levels will
receive lower scores on all four dependent variables, and 3) Ethnicity will have a greater impact
on hiring discrimination than the impact of Sexual Orientation, a Factorial MANOVA was
conducted (see Table 1 for Means and Standard Deviations). Since each independent variable has
only two levels, a Tukey Post-Hoc analysis was not employed.
The multivariate analysis indicated no significant main effect for Ethnicity, Wilks‘
Lambda = .99, F(4, 101) = 0.28, p = .888, as well as no significant main effect for Sexual
Orientation, Wilks’ Lambda = .98, F(4, 101) = 0.44, p = .779. This suggests that neither
independent variables (Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation) significantly differed in their scores on
the willingness to hire scale, leadership scale, work experience scale, and extracurricular activity
scale. The multivariate analysis also indicated that there was no significant interaction effect
between Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation, Wilks’ Lambda = .96, F(4, 101) = 1.14, p = .341. This
suggests that one independent variable did not depend on the impact of the second independent
variable. Since there was no significant interaction effect, a simple effects test was not used.
Univariate analysis showed no significant effect of Ethnicity for the Willingness to Hire
Scale, F(1, 104) = 0.00, p = .979, the Work Experience Scale, F(1, 104) = 0.63, p = .430, the
Leadership Scale, F(1, 104) = 0.00, p = .962, and the Extracurricular Activity Scale, F(1, 104) =
0.02, p = .898. The univariate analysis also showed no significant effect of Sexual Orientation

for the Willingness to Hire Scale, F(1, 104) = 0.13, p = .717, the Work Experience Scale, F(1,
104) = 0.00, p = .951, the Leadership Scale, F(1, 104) = 0.00, p = .962, and the Extracurricular
Activity Scale, F(1, 104) = 1.00, p = .320.
Subsequently, all three hypotheses were rejected.
A Factorial MANOVA was used despite 51 participants out of 108 total participants
inaccurately answering at least one of the manipulation check questions. In order to investigate
whether the imprecise data had an influence on the insignificant results shown above, a second
Factorial MANOVA was conducted (see Table 2 for Means and Standard Deviations). The second
test eliminated all responses from participants that answered at least one manipulation check
question incorrectly. Again, since each independent has two levels, a Tukey Post Hoc was not
employed.
The second multivariate analysis still indicated no significant main effect for Ethnicity,
Wilks’ Lambda = .94, F(4, 50) = 0.82, p = .520, as well as no significant main effect for Sexual
Orientation, Wilks’ Lambda = .97, F(4, 50) = 0.42, p = .794. This suggests that neither independent
variables (Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation) significantly differed in their scores on the willingness
to hire scale, leadership scale, work experience scale, and extracurricular activity scale. The second
multivariate analysis also indicated that there was no significant interaction effect between
Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation, Wilks’ Lambda = .94, F(4, 50) = 0.76, p = .554. This suggests
that one independent variable did not depend on the impact of the second independent variable.
Since there was no significant interaction effect, a simple effects test was not used.
The second univariate analysis showed no significant effect of Ethnicity for the
Willingness to Hire Scale, F(1, 53) = 0.13, p = .724, the Work Experience Scale, F(1, 53) = 3.20,

p = .08, the Leadership Scale, F(1, 53) = 0.72, p = .400, and the Extracurricular Scale, F(1, 53) =
0.88, p = .351. The second univariate analysis also showed no significant effect of Sexual
Orientation for the Willingness to Hire Scale, F(1, 53) = 0.54, p = .464, the Work Experience
Scale, F(1, 53) = 0.03. p = .864, the Leadership Scale, F(1, 53) = 1.37, p = .246, and the
Extracurricular Activity Scale, F(1, 53) = 0.32, p = .572.
Consequently, all of the hypotheses were once again rejected.
Discussion
The purpose of this study was to see if the ethnicity and the sexual orientation of an
applicant significantly influenced the bias of the resume, while holding everything else constant.
After reviewing the participant’s scores on all four dependent variables, it was decisively clear
that neither independent variable significantly altered the evaluations of the resume. To put it
into context, the mean scores of all resume groups are so similar that in the univariate analysis,
the p value was very close of reaching 1.00 several times. Henceforth, the resume with both
minority levels did not significantly receive lower scores than the other conditions and the
resume with both majority levels did not significantly receive higher scores than the other
conditions, thus rejecting those hypotheses. The third hypothesis, which stated that ethnicity
would have more of an impact on hiring discrimination than the impact of sexual orientation,
was also rejected because no conclusion can be drawn from insignificant results.
Looking at the bigger picture, the results imply that ethnicity and sexual orientation are
no predictors of hiring discrimination in resume evaluations, which is essentially great news for
society. Oddly enough, the results of this study do not integrate well with the results of previous
literature. Perhaps what is most surprising is that in other studies, there is uncontroversial

evidence that ethnicity is a major contributor to hiring discrimination, especially when the
ethnicity studied is Arabs. As mentioned above, Derous and Ryan’s study showed that when
searching for jobs, Arab applicants are 4 to 6 times more likely to be rejected than White
applicants (Derous et al, 2012). French people are also considered “White,” yet the results of this
study show that participants were equally willing to hire both French and Arab applicants.
Another study shows that Arab applicants need to convey much more warmth and competence in
their resume, as opposed to Swedish applicants, in order to have equal chances of getting hired
(Bjorklund, & Carlsson, 2012, p. 359). Bjorklund’s and Carlsson’s study is very similar to this
study, considering that both studies are comparing a majority (French and Swedish are
interchangeable) ethnicity and a common minority ethnicity (Arab), yet the results conflict, even
though warmth and competence is held constant in our study. Less surprising is the insignificant
effect of sexual orientation on hiring discrimination, since there are conflicting results in other
literatures about sexuality being a predictor of hiring discrimination in resume evaluations.
This study encountered some limitations that might have affected its internal and external
validity. Even though a total of 108 participants might be considered a decent sample size,
raising the sample size even more to increase the power of the study can never hurt. Another
limitation was not specifying what type of job the applicant was applying for. Different jobs
look for different qualities in applicants, and by not addressing the nature of the job, participants
most likely valued the applicant’s qualities differently which might have ultimately skewed the
results. The biggest limitation to this study was that many participants did not pick up on the
demographical hints in their respective resume. Even though the name “Laurent” is among the
top ten most common French names out there, some participants were unable to identify Laurent
as French. Also, when answering the questionnaire some participants were unsure what the

definition of “ethnicity” was so they answered incorrectly. As a matter of fact, 51 out of 108
participants answered at least one manipulation check question incorrectly. This presented a
major problem because if the participants were not aware of the demographical hints, it would
eliminate any chance of them being influenced by the ethnicity and the sexual orientation of the
applicant, which would defeat the purpose of this study. That is why a second Factorial
MANOVA test was conducted; the second test eliminated all responses from participants that
answered at least one manipulation check question incorrectly. Although, the results of the
second Factorial MANOVA test showed a greater difference in mean scores of all four Resume
groups, overall the second test failed to provide a main effect for Ethnicity, a main effect for
Sexual Orientation, and failed to provide a significant interaction effect between Ethnicity and
Sexual. The results in the corrected second test is a step in the right direction because the results
integrated more with the results of other literatures; most p values are lower than the p values
from the first test, and while not significant, ethnicity had a lower p value than sexual
orientation. The second test points that the researcher’s hypotheses were on track to be validated,
but due to the limited power, it did not allow the hypotheses to be evaluated fully.
Further research should be conducted in order to not only increase our knowledge on
hiring discrimination, but to be better prepared in defending against it. Improving the
researcher’s study could be a fruitful contribution to hiring discrimination, by fixing and going
through the limitations that hindered the results of this study. This includes having more
participants, mentioning a specific job and obtaining employers from that job to review the
applicant’s resume. This would make the study more realistic and would most likely achieve
significant results. Future research might also be interesting in studying other combinations of
targeted minority groups at once, and may not be restricted to the following combinations: sexual

orientation/gender, gender/ethnicity, gender/disabilities, or sexual orientation/disabilities.
Derous, Ryan, and Serlie’s recent study investigated the combination of ethnicity and gender on
hiring discrimination and found significant results. They concluded that Arab women were
favored in both lower and higher demanding job than their Arab male counterpart. (Derous,
Ryan, & Serlie, 2014) Mixing discriminated groups together, such as the study just mentioned, is
an under analyzed topic and should be the focus of future studies.

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Nadler, J. T., & Kufahl, K. M. (2014). Marital status, gender, and sexual orientation:
Implications for employment hiring decisions. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and
Gender Diversity, 1, 270-278. doi:10.1037/sgd0000050
Paludi, M. A., DeSouza, E. R., & Dodd, D. E. (2011). Disability discrimination. In M. A. Paludi,
C. J. Paludi, E. R. DeSouza (Eds.) , Praeger handbook on understanding and preventing
workplace discrimination (Vols 1 & 2) (pp. 17-44). Santa Barbara, CA, US:
Praeger/ABC-CLIO.
Tilcsik, A. (2011). Pride and prejudice: Employment discrimination against openly gay men in
the United States. American Journal of Sociology, 117, 586-626. doi:10.1086/661653

Table 1
Means and Standard Deviations of Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation for different Scales Scores
Ethnicity/ Sexual Orientation
French Arab
Hetero Homo Hetero Homo
n=27 n=29 n=25 n=27
M SD M SD M SD M SD
_____________________________________________________________________________
Willingness to Hire 5.33 0.83 5.03 1.15 5.12 1.51 5.26 0.98
Work Experience 3.48 1.01 3.24 1.19 3.40 1.22 3.67 1.07
Leadership 3.19 1.30 3.14 0.99 3.16 1.38 3.19 1.08
Extracurricular Activity 3.15 1.26 3.00 0.80 3.20 1.38 2.89 1.28
On a scale where scale scores ranged from 1-7

Table 2
Means and Standard Deviations of Ethnicity and Sexual Orientation for different Scales Scores
Ethnicity/ Sexual Orientation
French Arab
Hetero Homo Hetero Homo
n=13 n=14 n=14 n= 16
M SD M SD M SD M SD
_____________________________________________________________________________
Willingness to Hire 5.00 0.71 4.93 1.54 4.57 1.60 5.13 0.81
Work Experience 3.15 0.69 2.93 1.21 3.50 1.16 3.63 1.20
Leadership 3.15 0.90 3.00 0.96 3.57 1.22 3.06 1.12
Extracurricular Activity 2.77 0.93 2.86 0.66 3.29 1.33 2.89 1.20
On a scale where scale scores ranged from 1-7

Appendix A
Informed Consent
I hereby consent to participate in Jonathan Pfefer’s research on willingness to hire and resume
evaluation.
I understand that this research will involve reading a resume and completing a series of
questionnaires.
While I understand that the direct benefits of this research to society are not known, I
have been told that I may learn more about the content of resumes.
I understand that this research will take about 15 minutes.
I understand I will be paid 50 cents for completing this study.
I have been told that there are no known risks or discomforts related to participating in
this research.
I have been told that Jonathan Pfefer can be contacted at jpfefer@conncoll.edu
I understand that I may decline to answer any questions as I see fit, and that I may
withdraw from the study without penalty at any time.
I understand that all information will be identified with a code number and NOT my
name.
I have been advised that I may contact the researcher who will answer any questions that
I may have about the purposes and procedures of this study.
I understand that this study is not meant to gather information about specific individuals
and that my responses will be combined with other participants’ data for the purpose of
statistical analyses.
I consent to publication of the study results as long as the identity of all participants is

protected.
I understand that this research has been approved by the Connecticut College Human
Subjects Institutional Review Board (IRB).
Concerns about any aspect of this study may be addressed to Professor Jason Nier,
Chairperson of the Connecticut College IRB (janie@conncoll.edu)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am at least 18 years of age, and I have read these explanations and assurances and
voluntarily consent to participate in this research about willingness to hire and resume
evaluation.
Name (printed): ______________________
Signature: ____________________________
Date: _____________________

Appendix B
Resume 1: French and Heterosexual
(See next page)

Laurent Robicheau
Box 6891, Connecticut College lrobicheau@conncoll.edu 115 Lake
Plymouth Blvd,
270 Mohegan Avenue Plymouth, CT
New London, CT 06320 (XXX) XXX XXXX
EDUCATION
CONNECTICUT COLLEGE, New London, Connecticut BA expected May 2015
Major: Computer Science Overall GPA 3.38
Honors: Deans Honor Roll
Selected Scholar: Center for Arts and Technology (CAT) Certificate expected 2015
Language Skills: Fluent in French
Relevant Courses: Data Structures; Computer Organization; Database Systems; Computer Networks
Terryville High School, Terryville, CT Diploma awarded May 2011
WORK EXPERIENCE
Language Lab Center, Connecticut College Fall 2013 - Present
French Tutor • Prepare students for their French Oral Proficiency Test.
Connecticut College Admission Office, New London, CT Summers 2011, 2012
Office Assistant • Performed office duties such as copying,faxing, filing
• Created a posterboard with pictures of new students
• Led tours throughout campus
Hamden Hall Summer Programs, Hamden, CT Summer 2010
Teacher • Taught mathematics to 2nd, 3rd, 4th graders at a summer program
• Developed lesson plans and daily activities
• Applied interactive methods to enrich learning experience
Plymouth Youth Service Bureau, Plymouth, CT Fall 2009-Spring 2010
Assistant • Supervised elementary-and middle –schoolaged children
• Aided students with homework assignments
• Collaborated with other employees to foster a supportive environment
 Mediated conflicts between students
Connecticut Public Interest Research Group (CONNPIRG), New Haven, CT Summer 2011
Canvasser/Field • Canvassed neighborhoods to gain support for an environmental organization
Manager • Gathered financial support and collected petition signatures to support a campaign
• Participated in public relations events
LEADERSHIP AND CO-CURRICULAR EXPERIENCE
“Capital by Crime” Rock Band, Connecticut College Fall 2010 -Present
Rock Band Founder •Started a Rock Band with my girlfriend and brother
 Mastered the electric guitar.
Club Cricket, Connecticut College Fall 2012-Present
Captain • Organize games with otherschools and recruit potential players
Computer Science Student Advisory Board, Connecticut College Spring 2012-Present
Representative • Administered and summarized of professors/classes and made recommendations to
department
• Coordinated with fellow representatives to arrange departmental events
Volunteer Experience
Alliance Française of Greenwich, Greenwich, CT Summer 2013
Guest Speaker • Spoke about my French heritage and shared some culture shock experiences
Habitat for Humanity, Connecticut College Spring 2011
Member • Built homes
• Worked with other students to accomplish tasks in a timely manner
Arboretum Office, Connecticut College Spring 2011
Tour Guide • Lead tours throughout the arboretum to local middle schoolstudents

Appendix C
Resume 2: French and Homosexual
(See next page)

Laurent Robicheau
Box 6891, Connecticut College lrobicheau@conncoll.edu 115 Lake
Plymouth Blvd,
EDUCATION
Language Skills: Fluent in French
WORK EXPERIENCE
French Tutor • Prepare students for their French Oral Proficiency Test.
LGBTQ Resource Center, Connecticut College Fall 2010 - Fall 2011
President • Created and initiated activities to get LGBTQ members more engaged around campus
Speaker • Spoke about being bullied as a kid, how I overcame it, and how I evolved into the person I
am today.
department
Alliance Française of Greenwich, Greenwich, CT Summer 2013
Guest Speaker • Spoke about my French heritage and shared some culture shock experiences

Appendix D
Resume 3: Arabic Heterosexual
(See next page)

Abdul Nasir Mahlab
Box 6891, Connecticut College anmahlab@conncoll.edu 115 Lake
Plymouth Blvd,
EDUCATION
Language Skills: Fluent in Arabic
WORK EXPERIENCE
Arabic Tutor • Prepare students for their Arabic Oral Proficiency Test.
“Capital by Crime” Rock Band, Connecticut College Fall 2010 -Present
Rock Band Founder •Started a Rock Band with my girlfriend and brother
 Mastered the electric guitar.
department
17th Annual Arabic American Day Festival, Greenwich, CT Fall 2012
Guest Speaker • Spoke about my Arabic heritage and shared some culture shockexperiences

Appendix E
Resume 4: Arabic Homosexual
(See next page)

Abdul Nasir Mahlab
Box 6891, Connecticut College anmahlab@conncoll.edu 115 Lake
Plymouth Blvd,
EDUCATION
Language Skills: Fluent in Arabic
WORK EXPERIENCE
Arabic Tutor • Prepare students fortheir Arabic Oral Proficiency Test.
LGBTQ Resource Center, Connecticut College Fall 2010 - Fall 2011
President • Created and initiated activities to get LGBTQ members more engaged around campus
Speaker • Spoke about being bullied as a kid, how I overcame it, and how I evolved into the person I
am today.
department
17th Annual Arabic American Day Festival, Greenwich, CT Fall 2012
Guest Speaker • Spoke about my Arabic heritage and shared some culture shockexperiences

Appendix F
Willingness to Hire Scale
How likely would you hire this applicant?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Extremely Unlikely Very Unlikely Unlikely Indifferent Likely Very Likely Extremely Likely
______

Appendix G
Leadership Scale
How would you rate the applicant’s leadership potential?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Extremely Low Very Low Low Average High Very High Extremely High
______

Appendix H
Work Experience Scale
How would you rate the applicant’s work experience?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
______

Appendix I
Extracurricular Activities Rating Scale
How would you rate the amount of extracurricular activities in the given resume?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
______

Appendix J
Demographics of Participants:
Please answer the following questions:
1. How old are you? __________
2. What is your gender? __________
3. What is your ethnicity? ____________
4. What is your race? ____________
5. What is your sexual orientation? ____________
Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each statement.
SA: Strongly Agree, A: Agree, N: Neither Agree nor Disagree, D: Disagree, SD: Strongly
Disagree
6. I have felt discriminated in a hiring process.
____
7. Throughout my life, I have been discriminated against as a result of my gender.
____
8. Throughout my life, I have been discriminated against as a result of my ethnicity.
____
9. Throughout my life, I have been discriminated against as a result of my sexual
orientation.
____
10. Throughout my life, I have been discriminated against for other reasons not listed.
____
11. If any, what are the other reasons? _________________
Manipulation Check:
1. In the given resume, what was the gender of the applicant? __________
2. In the given resume, what was the ethnicity of the applicant? __________

3. In the given resume, what was the sexual orientation of the applicant? _________
Appendix K
Debriefing Form
First of all, thank you for participating in this research dealing with hiring discrimination. Hiring
discrimination has a significant impact on the labor market and is an undervalued problem in our
society. Resume screening has been a popular method to study hiring discrimination because
employers that are given hundreds of resumes per day have been known to choose applicants,
implicitly or explicitly, based on how well they affiliate with societies majority groups.
Literature has studied different kinds of groups that are subjected to hiring discrimination such as
individuals with disabilities, LGBT members, gender discrimination, and ethnic minorities. To
my knowledge, no research has specifically focused on the combination of ethnic and sexual
orientation traits in applicants, and that is the purpose of this research. In this research, I am
comparing “leadership,” “work experience,” “extracurricular activity,” and “willingness to hire”
scores in resumes, varying only in the applicant’s hinted ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have
used Amazon Turk participants residing in the United States to complete the questionnaire.
Participants were randomly given one of four resumes: Resume 1 hinted at a French heterosexual
applicant, Resume 2 hinted at a French homosexual applicant, Resume 3 hinted at an Arab
heterosexual applicant, and Resume 4 hinted at an Arab homosexual applicant.
I am curious which of the variables manipulated (sexual orientation and ethnicity) had a greater
effect on hiring discrimination.
The experiment did rely on passive deception to conceal the research hypothesis from the
participants. By not minimizing demand characteristics, the participants would have understood
the topic of investigation, which would have skewed the results considerably. The deception
used is very minor and should not have harmed any participants in any way.
If you are interested in this topic and want to read the literature in this area, please contact me,
Jonathan Pfefer, at jpfefer@conncoll.edu. If you have questions or concerns about the manner in
which this study was conducted, you may contact the chair of Connecticut College’s Institutional
Review Board, Jason Nier at janie@concoll.edu
Listed below are two sources you may want to consult to learn more about this topic:

Derous, E., & Ryan, A. (2012). Documenting the adverse impact of résumé screening: Degree of
ethnic identification matters. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 20, 464-
474. doi:10.1111/ijsa.12009
Tilcsik, A. (2011). Pride and prejudice: Employment discrimination against openly gay men in
the United States. American Journal of Sociology, 117, 586-626. doi:10.1086/661653

Certificate of Completion
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Extramural Research
certifies that Jonathan pfefer successfully completed the NIH Web-
based training course “Protecting Human Research Participants”.
Date of completion: 10/14/2014
Certification Number: 1592839

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