Religious Discrimination in the Job Application Process and its Implications

Abstract

The purpose of my proposed design study is to ask whether the religious affiliation of a subject and a series of job applicants causes religious discrimination in hiring practices. The social identity theory and rejection-identification models examine a person’s role in a series of groups that, ultimately, makes up one’s identity. When an affiliation to a group is strong, a person may tend to favor others within their group or discriminate against others who don’t belong. I would research this bias using religious affiliation in the form of résumé reviews: while race, gender, sexual orientation, and political party have been studied in this format, religion has been continuously overlooked. With a résumé review and a survey question, we would see if a subject’s role in his or her religious affiliation, and the extent to which one identifies with that group, would have an impact on the job application process. With this in mind, this study notes the need for diversity reform within companies. Although solutions, such as employee resource groups and diversity management programs, have diversified companies along race and gender, internal characteristics tend to be ignored. Additionally, one must pay attention to the type of company in question before he or she can make any decisions. Whether studying the beginning stages of the job application process or post-hire steps, this study raises awareness about diversity of the entire human person and how it relates to the company that he or she is working for.