Even though it is 2019 already, the Netherlands faces a serious problem when it comes to discrimination. Research has namely confirmed that people from migration background are invited less often for a job interview. The question is how this embarrassing problem can be solved. Robert Dur, Professor of incentives and performances at Erasmus School of Economics, elaborates upon this problem on BNR Nieuwsradio.
The researches that have been conducted about this topic show that discrimination is present in the job application process and that this discrimination is often very severe. Two years ago, a research was conducted in which the researchers responded on vacancies that were put on the Web by sending an application letter. These were vacancies such as carpenter, mason, and the like. What the research showed was that applicants without a migration background had a chance of one in three to receive an invitation for a job interview, whereas applicants with a migration background only had a chance of one in ten. Thus, applicants with a migration background have to send more application letters beore they even get a job interview.
Was it a coincidence? The research was designed very well, and the sample size was large. So, the chance that it was a coincidence is rather small. Furthermore, four or five researches have been conducted about this topic in the past ten years in the Netherlands. In all researches, we have observed a similar pattern. However, the pattern was less pronounced in other researches than in this one. Is that due to the fact that the situation improves over time? That is something we cannot say, because the researches target different types of vacancies. What can be said is that the situation improves when the economy is growing faster, because people with migration backgrounds tend to have it harder in difficult times.
- Professor
- More information
Listen to the entire podcast (in Dutch) on BNR Nieuwsradio d.d. 24 February 2019