Researching race and discrimination in the UK: A case study in methods David Drew and Duncan Carnie DWP Sheffield, England Presentation to ESF Partnership Meeting: Warsaw 29 May 2008 Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Ethnic minorities and employer discrimination: Research methods The employment gap is 14 percentage points and if present trends continue it will take 100 years to close the gap… Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Ethnic Minority Employment Division …and employment rates for individual ethnic minority groups vary widely Ethnic Minority Employment Division

… whilst government strategy is built around three strands Equal opportunities in the workplace Building employability Connecting people to work ……..and addresses distinct disadvantages including: Employer discrimination on the grounds of race still exists Lack of fluency in English – for example 75% of Bangladeshi women aged 25-44 are not fluent in English High rates of inactivity – particularly amongst Pakistani and Bangladeshi women Ethnic Minority Employment Division

1. Self report in surveys: Job refusals Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Those with post school qualifications … and there is a ‘chill’ factor, prejudice amongst employers and managers Self reported prejudice – white employees and employers. Percent very or fairly prejudiced All current employees and employers Those with post school qualifications Employers and managers Manufacturing 36 30 Construction 37 38 Distribution 33 29 39 Transport 34 40 Finance 28 24 27 Public administration 21 19 All Pooled BSA 2001-3 Ethnic Minority Employment Division

2. Statistical modelling: Ethnic penalties Heath and Cheung, Oxford University (2006) An ethnic penalty is the disadvantage experienced by a group after control for age, qualifications and other important factors Different outcomes (unemployment, progress to salariat) and different sectors: (construction, transport) Ethnic Minority Employment Division

… logistic analysis of unemployment: trends over time for men Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Ethnic Minority Employment Division … show large penalties for ethnic minority men and little improvement over time Limitations Unobservable factors (personal and cultural preferences) could explain differences No account taken of pre-labour market discrimination Latest research Discrimination (job refusals) is the largest factor in the employment gap for blacks Ethnic Minority Employment Division

3. Qualitative research: Videos of interviews Roberts, Kings College London (2006), Talk on Trial Research objectives to understand: how ethnic minority candidates are systematically disadvantaged in interviews how job selection decisions are made by employers Method: 60 real job interviews video-recorded with pre- and post-interviews with candidates; post-interviews with interviewers. Manual jobs mostly. Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Ethnic Minority Employment Division … and the findings were first generation ethnic minorities were less successful mismatch of cultural expectations communicative competence rather than job skills competence equal (but not fair) interviews Ethnic Minority Employment Division

4. Experimental approach: CV testing French Strategy Unit (2007) Matched written applications for jobs based on names and qualifications Closest to randomised trial ‘gold standard’ Unequivocal evidence of discrimination Ethnic Minority Employment Division

…Moroccan and French names and combinations were used Ethnic Minority Employment Division

… and applicants with Moroccan names were less successful Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Ethnic Minority Employment Division …and finally…employment penalties by ethnicity, gender, disability and family structure Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Ethnic Minority Employment Division References French strategy unit research: http://www.strategie.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/2007-03-05discriminationsembauche-testing.pdf Heath, A. and Cheung, S. (2006) Ethnic penalties in the labour market: Employers and discrimination. DWP Research Report 341 (116 pages). http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep341.pdf Roberts, C. (2006) Talk on Trial: Job interviews, language and ethnicity. DWP research report 344. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep344.pdf Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Ethnic Minority Employment Division Other references Berthoud, R. and Blekesaune, M. (2007) Persistent employment disadvantage. DWP Research Report 416 http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep416.pdf Crawford, C. et al. (2008) Estimating ethnic parity in Jobcentre Plus programmes: a quantitative analysis using the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study. DWP research report 491. Institute for Fiscal Studies. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep491.pdf Modood, T. et al. (2006) Developing positive action policies. DWP research report. Bristol University. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/rports2005-2006/rrep406.pdf Ethnic Minority Employment Division

Ethnic Minority Employment Division Previous work Drew, D. (1995) Race, Education and Work: The Statistics of Inequality. Aldershot, Avebury. Ethnic Minority Employment Division