Racial Discrimination In Speculative Application: Evidence From the Uk's Top 100 Firms

Mike Noon, who is Lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at Cardiff Business School, examines the responses of the UK's top 100 firms when faced with speculative enquiries from two bogus ‘candidates’ belonging to different ethnic groups. He finds that, although both candidates were likely to reveive a reply, the ‘white’ candidate tended to receive a better quality reply; candidates were more likely to be treated the same by companies with statements of equal opportunity, but when discrimination occurred it also tended to favour the white candidate. His conclusions suggest what might be done to bridge the gap between policy and practice.