Memo #3: Affirmative Action

Gabriel Bianconi
Spring 2018

Executive Summary

• Hiring biases occur systematically and have seen little improvement over time.
• Past corporate affirmative action programs have successfully reduced discrimination.
• Such programs have had long-lasting benefits even after being dismantled.

Zamr should adopt a corporate affirmative action program to help disadvantaged candidates.
According to a 1995 government report, “civil rights laws […] were not enough to overcome long-
entrenched discrimination.”1 Affirmative action presents an opportunity to counteract this
discrimination and achieve a fairer workplace.

Affirmative action can help counterbalance hiring biases

Research suggests that systematic hiring biases discriminate against women and people of color. For
example, “white applicants receive 36% more callbacks than equally qualified African Americans
[and] 24% more callbacks than Latinos.”2

Similarly, in a study comparing hiring decisions based on identical resumes by “John” and “Jennifer”,
the male candidate was more likely to receive an offer and attain a higher salary.3 Another study found
that “employers systematically underestimated the mathematical performance of women […], resulting
in the hiring of lower-performing men.”4

In fact, there has been limited progress in reducing these biases. A 2017 study found “no change in the
levels of discrimination against African Americans since 1989.”5 Affirmative action can help
overcome these challenges.

1
Stephanopoulos, G. & Edley Jr., C., 1995. “Review of Federal Affirmative Action Programs.”
Available at: https://clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/aa/aa-lett.html
2
Quillian, L. et al., 2017. “Meta-analysis of field experiments shows no change in racial discrimination in hiring over time.” In PNAS Sep 2017, 201706255.
Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2017/09/11/1706255114.full
3
Moss-Racusin, C. et al., 2012. "Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students." In PNAS October 9, 2012. 109 (41) 16474-16479.
Available at: http://www.pnas.org/content/109/41/16474
4
Corbett, C., & Hill, C., 2015. “Solving the Equation: The Variables for Women's Success in Engineering and Computing.” American Association of University Women.
Available at: https://www.aauw.org/research/solving-the-equation/
5
ibid, Quillian, L. et al., 2017.
Corporate affirmative action programs have been successful in the past

Affirmative action has improved female participation in the workplace. By 1995, over six million jobs
held by women in the US were attributable to affirmative action.6 In particular, companies contracting
for the federal government (and therefore, subject to affirmative action requirements) grew female
employment by 15.2% compared to 2.2% in other workplaces. Women at these companies achieved
higher positions and better pay, according to the study.7

In addition to government contractors, other companies that have adopted affirmative action programs
have successfully reduced discrimination. Some examples include:

• IBM tripled the number of female officials and managers;8

• Corning doubled the number of female and black employees, and increased the number of
women managers by 29%;9
• Motorola increased the number of women and people of color in upper-level management by
nearly ten-fold.10

Therefore, affirmative action has successfully increased minority representation in the workplace.

The benefits of affirmative action persist even after these policies are removed

Temporary affirmative action programs have long-lasting positive impact on hiring practices.
According to a 2017 study, government contractors subject to affirmative action regulation grew the
black share of employees by an average of 0.8% per year. Interestingly, this share continued to grow
at a similar pace even after the requirements were lifted. The author attributes the effect to better
candidate sourcing and screening practices.11

According to the study, after being subject to temporary affirmative action, companies achieved a more
balanced composition of referral applicants.12 This is particularly important, since referral applicants
are more likely to be hired;13 48% of businesses consider referrals their top recruiting source.14

Therefore, Zamr should implement affirmative action programs to help counterbalance hiring biases
and achieve a more inclusive workplace.

6
Cose, E., 1997. “Color-Blind: Seeing Beyond Race in a Race-Obsessed World.” New York: Harper-Collins.
7
Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, 1984. “Affirmative Action to Open the Doors of Job Opportunity.”
Available at: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED248283
8
ibid.
9
Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights, 1996. “Affirmative Action: Working & Learning Together.”
10
ibid.
11
Miller, C., 2017. “The Persistent Effect of Temporary Affirmative Action.” In American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 9(3): 152-190.
Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20160121
12
ibid.
13
Lever.co, n.d. “The Little Grey Book of Recruiting Benchmarks.”
Available at: https://www.lever.co/resources/little-grey-book-of-recruiting-benchmarks
14
LinkedIn, 2017. “Global Recruiting Trends in 2017.”
Available at: https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/pdfs/linkedin-global-recruiting-trends-report.pdf