Attitudes towards affirmative action in the selection process: a cross-cultural comparison

Abstract

This study investigated whether a stigma of incompetence is attached to women appointed under an affirmative action strategy and if so whether information about the role of qualifications in the selection process would mitigate this effect. In the experiment, 316 people in the workforce from the United States and New Zealand reviewed the application material of either a man or a woman. The woman was either associated with an affirmative action scheme or not. In some cases information about the role of her qualifications in the selection process was included. Findings indicate that an affirmative action label did not influence ratings of competence, hiring due to qualifications, projected career progress or personal characterisations. The results from the United States are not consistent with previous studies conducted in the United States and suggest that people's attitudes have moderated because of the recent large-scale national publicity about affirmative action. The results from New Zealand are consistent with a previous study suggesting that people's attitudes have not changed and are as egalitarian as ever. In addition to the study involving employed subjects, it was investigated how different groups within the working population perceived hypothetical applicants selected for a position as part of an affirmative action initiative. Generally, groups such as managers, non-managers, men, women, individuals who work in organisations which employ equal employment opportunities or affirmative action programmes and those who do not, held the same attitudes as the general working population in the original analyses.