Perceptions of Discrimination in Recruitment and the Workplace

Abstract

Previous Swedish studies show that, due to stigmatization and discrimination, immigrants occupy inferior positions in the labor market. This article investigates the extent to which natives and immigrants perceive discrimination of immigrants establishes the discrepancy between concrete and abstract attitudes about discrimination, and evaluates the assimilation hypothesis and the consciousness hypothesis as alternative explanations of perceived discrimination by immigrants. Data for this study came from a survey of individuals employed by the Malmö municipality. The results show that, concerning abstract attitudes, natives hold largely the same opinion about discrimination against immigrants as do immigrants themselves, and that there is a significant difference between concrete and abstract perceptions of discrimination among natives and immigrants. But immigrants embrace stronger positions than do natives on the prevalence of discrimination in the workplace. With one exception, our results tend to be more in line with the consciousness perspective.

KEYWORDS:

• perceptions of discrimination
• immigrants
• labor market

Alireza Behtoui, PhD, is Research Fellow, Department of Social and Welfare Studies (ISV), Linkoping University. Anders Neergaard, PhD, is Associate Professor, Department of Social and Welfare Studies (ISV), Linkoping University.

This study was funded by FAS, The Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (Grant 48537113), which we gratefully acknowledge.

Notes

∗∗∗ denotes significance at 1% level.

∗∗ at 5% level.

∗∗∗ denotes significance at 1% level.

∗∗ at 5% level.

∗ at 10% level.

∗∗∗ denotes significance for between groups difference at 1% level.

∗∗∗ denotes significance at 1% level.

∗∗ at 5% level.

∗ at 10% level.

∗∗∗ denotes significance at 1% level.

∗∗ at 5% level.

∗ at 10% level.

1. It is certainly an interesting sociological question why and how such an opinion is obtained.

2. Results would be almost the same if we had constructed an index by performing a factor analysis (principal component) on the four questions that concern general attitudes. Statements 4 and 7 have been reversed so that they go in the same direction.

3. Countries defined as NW in this study are: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Island, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, other Western European countries, Japan, Canada, Australia, and the United States. The rest of the world is defined as ONW.

4. This argument may be based on the research by Demker (2007) showing different attitudes toward refugees related to different fields of education. Her results show that men educated in arts, literature, and social science are more positive toward refugees than those educated in other subjects, and even more so than women (while women generally are more positive) (Demker, 2007, p. 19). On the specifics of this sample, we should also mention that in another study measuring the social capital of men and women we find no difference between men and women in this sample on access to social capital, which runs counter to the findings of earlier studies (see Behtoui, 2007).

5. Portes et al. (1980, p. 204) emphasize that such a theory is applicable to “the mass of the immigrants who live in more modest economic circumstances,” and not to the small group of immigrants who “enter into upper strata.” Cultural assimilation, as they mention, indeed corresponds with the “success stories” and interests of the second group.

6. Goto et al. (2002, p. 213) have tested approximately similar theories with other labels, namely, “similarity” (acculturation to host countries’ behaviour) and “contact” (increased frequency of contacts with people outside of one's racial or ethnic group).