Hello and welcome to our new podcast, we’re here to talk about a serious topic concerning this century!
We are two students in social psychology, and we would like to discuss about discrimination! Without further do, let’s get started!
Justine: I’m a social psychologist student in second year of master’s degree. I am interested in recruitment and especially in discrimination in recruitment situations. Next year, I’ll be doing my internship in a psychologist consulting firm with the aim of learning more about it.
Julie: That’s a great project ! This is a topic that interests me particularly. I had the opportunity to do an internship this year in London with an association focused on the status of women in the workplace! Sexism is a notion that particularly affects me and that it is important to defend!
Justine: Indeed, and in the context of recruitment, it’s important as a psychologist to pay attention to these aspects. The weight of appearances in recruitment means that the same degree with an equivalent path will not be treated the same way. For example, there will be differences in favor of more physically pleasurable people. Pretty people with less competent profiles will be preferred. (it’s called the pretty privilege)
Julie: and it will also affect salaries and career development! when we talk about appearance, it’s a mixture of physical, clothing and behavioral characteristics. in some jobs, appearance is the first of the elements: for example, for stewardesses.
Justine: In 1920, psychologists equated the weight of appearance with physical characteristics.
Julie: Oh you mean the implicit theory of personality?
Justine: Absolutely! It’s about making a link between physical characteristics and skills. Do you have an example?
Julie: Yes! An example that particularly struck me! Mr Feldman from the University of Pittsburgh has shown that people who are big in size will benefit from higher salaries than smaller people, because it would inspire a certain social stature!
Justine: oh my god… I’m little, you think that’s gonna put me in trouble?
Julie: haha ! Fortunately, psychologists carry out these studies with the aim of improving the objectivity of recruitment interviews so that this kind of unconscious discrimination doesn’t happen again.
Justine: Another theory developed by psychologists is confirmation bias. We are going to categorize a person, as if we were putting them in a box, and then we are only going to look for pieces of information that will confirm our impression.
Julie: To overcome this, the NPE (national employment agency) has set up workshops called “communicating on your image”. These workshops are aimed at the long term unemployed, to make them aware of how they are perceived by others and to adapt to the culture of the company to which they are applying.
Justine: oh that’s interesting, but … doesn’t it go in the same direction as discrimination? It means it’s up to people to adapt to the business, not the other way around
Julie: Yes indeed, that is debatable, but it helps to reduce unemployment! But for example, in some professional categories there are conditions to be respected: the police do not have the right to have visible tattoos!
Justine: You’re right! Anyway, the interviews are going to be important for both parties: for the recruiter and the candidate. First, the suitability of the profile and the candidate can be verified.
Julie: I also find that maintenance is essential! The candidate will be able to tell about his experiences in order to better understand his soft and hard skills.
Justine: Personality tests give us a first overview, but interviews allow us to understand the candidate’s personality and to see him evolve in a dialogue.
Julie: Completely! We will be able to evaluate his capacities of comprehension, reformulation, synthesis but also his dynamism and his self-control. They are totally independent of size, skin color or ethnicity!
Justine: Exactly. The candidate must of course know how to introduce himself, he must express his motivation and be confirmed in a first positive impression.
Julie: In any case, discrimination is prohibited by the law! The Non-Discrimination Law L1132-1 formally prohibits any kind of discrimination (racism, sexism, homophobia) in a work situation. Therefore, an employee has the right to report a situation if he finds it discriminatory!
Justine: Absolutely, we can appeal to the defender of rights! They will give us information about our rights in order to defend us in adverse situations!
Julie: It’s our duty as psychologists to promote diversity! we know about many stereotypes, but they must not divide us!
Justine et Julie : Long live psychology!