A race descrimination in the labor market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A race descrimination in the labor market - Essay Example Seeking to understand the particular employment challenges African-Americans face in the labor market, these scholars undertook an experiment which sought to discern whether or not potential employment candidates fared differently based upon race. The following is a brief overview of their study. Discrimination in the workforce affects people from all walks of life but as Bertrand & Mullainathan have shown, African-Americans face unique hurdles to their active employment in the United States today. Accordingly, job applicants with stereotypically sounding African-American names received â€Å"far fewer callbacks for each resume they send out† (Bertrand & Mullainathan 1,011). Seeking to understand the employment challenges facing African-Americans in the US labor market, these scholars do in fact find evidence to support their research claim. Aiming to explore differential treatment based upon race, these scholars interpret their findings to show that yes, racism, either real or latent, is prevalent in American society and can influence hiring decisions. Are the authors unbiased? No, but it is difficult to have researchers who are 100% unbiased and these scholars admit their initial assumptions prior to undertaking the research study. Bertrand & Mullainathan mention fr om the outset that â€Å"every measure of economic success reveals significant racial inequality in the U.S. labor market; compared to Whites, African-Americans are twice as likely to be unemployed and earn nearly 25% less when they are employed† (991). Thus, these scholars admit their preconceived notions and ideas and undertake a research study in order to understand whether such finding are warranted. What could the authors have done better? While their study is interesting and certainly relevant, it is not completely scientific. Accordingly, it is based upon