| Perceptions of Sex-Based Promotion Decisions: An Organizational Justice Perspective |
| | Elkins, Teri J. | U. of Houston | elkins@uh.edu | (713)-743-4669 |
| | Phillips, James S. | U. of Houston | jphillips@uh.edu | (713)-743-4660 |
| | Bozeman, Dennis P. | U. of Houston | dbozeman@uh.edu | (713)-743-4656 |
| | As a result of legal requirements or organizations' own desires to redress past discrimination, affirmative action persists in organizations. The use of preferential treatment, however, remains controversial since it potentially leads to undesirable psychological and behavioral outcomes among beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries (Heilman, Battle, Keller & Lee, 1998). Effective implementation of affirmative action plans is, therefore, an important concern for organizations. Research has suggested that employees' perceptions regarding the fairness of selection systems may affect important organizational outcomes (Gilliland, 1993). Logically, organizations using affirmative action plans may mitigate potential negative reactions by positively influencing employees' justice perceptions. Thus, the present study utilized an organizational justice framework to examine factors affecting perceptions of sex-based promotion decisions favoring female applicants. A laboratory experiment was conducted with 198 students (99 males, 99 females) to assess the effects of observer gender (male, female), applicants' qualifications (female more qualified, candidates equally qualified, female less qualified), and managerial accounts (causal, ideological, control) on subjects' justice perceptions. As expected, multivariate analysis of variance results indicated that the promotion of a female applicant yielded the highest fairness ratings when the female was more qualified than the male applicant and when the observer was female. More interestingly, multivariate analysis of covariance results suggested that managerial accounts interacted with both observer gender and applicants' qualifications in changing subjects' justice perceptions. Implications of these results for the implementation of affirmative action plans are discussed. |
| | Keywords: Affirmative Action; Sex Discrimination; Organizational Justice |
| Explaining Demographic Group Differences in Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action |
| | Konrad, Alison M. | Temple U. | konrads@erols.com | (215) 204-6907 |
| | Spitz, Janet | College of St. Rose | spitzj@rosnet.strose.edu | (518) 454-2032 |
| | Sex and ethnicity are consistent predictors of attitudes toward Affirmative Action (AA). The resons for demographic group differences in AA attitudes are not self-evident. Though attributing ethnic and sex differences in AA attitudes to self-interest may appeal to common sense, in general, measures of self-interest are weakly associated with policy attitudes.
The purpose of this research was to examine mediators having the potential to explain demographic group differences in attitudes toward AA. We examined four potential mediating factors: egalitarianism, sexism, racism and belief in the existence of discrimination.
Survey data were collected from two national samples in Spring, 1998. We sampled 750 sociologists and 750 members of a single division of the Academy of Management. After two mailings, 268 sociologists (36%) and 153 business academics (20%) returned usable responses.
Structural equation modeling was used for hypothesis-testing analyses. Results indicated that sex differences in attitudes toward AA programs targeting women were fully mediated by sexism, egalitarianism, and belief in the existence of sex discrimination.
Ethnic group differences in attitudes toward AA programs targeting African Americans were partially mediated by belief in the existence of race discrimination. Racism and egalitarianism significantly influenced attitudes toward AA for African Americans in both samples and mediated the relationship between ethnicity and AA attitudes among sociologists. |
| | Keywords: Public policy attitudes; Affirmative action; Racism and sexism |
| Implementing Equal Employment Opportunity through Identity Conscious or Identity Blind HR Strategies: The Effects on Women's Advancement in Management |
| | French, Erica Lynn | Queensland U. of Technology | e.french@qut.edu.au | 6-38642938 |
| | Developing equitable practices that provide fair access for all individuals to the benefits and burdens within organizations remains a dilemma for human resource management both in policy and practice. Research continues to show that the employment status and representation for members of some groups is significantly less in relation to those of other groups. Addressing the issue of disparity has resulted in a number of different approaches. Specifically, anti-discrimination legislation and affirmative action legislation offer two ways of impacting on the formal HR structures in relation to rules, programs and procedures that influence human resource management decision making.
While the objective of these approaches may be to ensure equal employment opportunity, the methods used are quite different. The anti-discrimination approach encourages equal treatment procedures often within identity blind structures whilst the affirmative action approach encourages fair and different procedures often within identity conscious structures.
This paper examines the equal opportunity approaches of thirty Australian organizations, assessing the presence of particular strategies and their effects on the employment status of women in management. The findings indicate that identity conscious strategies are a priority where organizations seek substantive change to the employment status of women.
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| | Keywords: equal employment opportunity; women in management; affirmative action |
| Assumptions of Gender-Based Preferential Selection: The Impact of Rarity |
| | Blader, Steven | New York U. | sblader@psych.nyu.edu | (212)-674-2602 |
| | Heilman, Madeline | Columbia U. | meh63@columbia.edu | (212)-854-4271 |
| | Past research has extensively documented the negative consequences associated with
being labeled an affirmative action beneficiary, but the conditions which regulate the
assignment of this label remain largely unexplored. In this study, we varied demographic rarity
to examine its impact on assumptions of gender-based preferential selection.
Results indicate that when explicit information about selection criterion is unavailable,
assumptions of gender-based preferential selection vary as a function of gender
composition. Specifically, when selection policy was ambiguous the role of gender-
based preferential selection in a solo female target's selection was perceived to be as strong as
when there was an explicit affirmative action policy. Ramifications of these findings on
the applicability of affirmative action research and directions for future research are
discussed. |
| | Keywords: Preferential Selection; Affirmative Action; Women |