Skin tone more important than educational background for African Americans seeking jobs, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
Writer: Philip Lee Williams, 706/542-8501, phil@franklin.uga.edu
Contacts: Matthew Harrison, 678/773-4662, msharris@uga.edu; Kecia Thomas, 706/542-5197, kthomas@uga.edu
Aug 15, 2006, 08:30

Athens, Ga. – Everyone knows about the insidious effects of racism in American society. But when it comes to the workplace, African Americans may face a more complex situation—the effects of their own skin tone.

For the first time, a study indicates that dark-skinned African Americans face a distinct disadvantage when applying for jobs, even if they have resumes superior to lighter-skinned black applicants.

Matthew Harrison, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, presented his research today at the 66th annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Atlanta. Along with his faculty supervisor, Kecia Thomas, a professor of applied psychology and acting director of UGA’s Institute for African American Studies, Harrison undertook the first significant study of “colorism� in the American workplace.

“The findings in this study are, tragically, not too surprising,� said Harrison. “We found that a light-skinned black male can have only a bachelor’s degree and typical work experience and still be preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an MBA and past managerial positions, simply because expectations of the light-skinned black male are much higher, and he doesn’t appear as ‘menacing’ as the darker-skinned male applicant.�

While there have been other studies of effects of colorism socially, this is the first study designed specifically to examine how it operates in hiring and in the workplace.

In America especially, Harrison says, when people think of race or race relations they commonly think of black and white. In fact, skin tone differences are responsible for increasing differences in perceptions within standard racially defined groups such as “blacks.� This diversity within races based on skin complexion has a long history but only recently have researchers begun to understand what these differences can mean.

Participants in the study that Harrison, himself an African-American, directed for his master’s thesis included 240 undergraduate students at the University of Georgia, some of whom participated in the study voluntarily, while others got class credit for their involvement. While there was a disproportionate number of females in the study (72 percent), this was due to the high percentage of women majoring in psychology at UGA and was adjusted for in reporting the research.

Each student was asked to rate one of two resumes that came with one of three photographs of a theoretical job applicant (one man, one woman) whose skin color was either dark, medium or light. Harrison manipulated the skin tones of the applicants with Adobe Photoshop so facial characteristics could not be included in how the students rated the job applicants.

“Our results indicate that there appears to be a skin tone preference in regards to job selection,� said Harrison. “This finding is possibly due to the common belief that fair-skinned blacks probably have more similarities with whites than do dark-skinned blacks, which in turn makes whites feel more comfortable around them.�

Harrison refers in his paper to numerous studies that show that light skin is almost universally valued among all racial groups. Hierarchies based on light skin are prevalent in Hindu cultures in India, for example, and in Asian and Hispanic cultures as well.

“While the respondents in this study were University of Georgia students, we think we would find the same response no matter where such a study was done in the country,� said Thomas. “When you consider that probably no more than 1 percent of industrial and organizational psychologists are black, you can see why a study like this just hasn’t been done before regarding colorism in the workplace. There are real-world consequences to these issues.�

Harrison said he was surprised that skin hue was even more important than education in evaluating job applicants.

“Given the increasing number of biracial and multiracial Americans, more research similar to this study should be performed so that Americans can become more aware of the prevalence of color bias in our society,� he said. “The only way we are going to begin to combat some of the inequities that result due to the beliefs and ideologies that are associated with colorism is by becoming more aware of the prejudices we have regarding skin tone due to the images we are exposed to on a regular basis.�

Society, he said, equates lighter skin with attractiveness, intelligence, competency and likeability, while we are often given a “much more dismal and bleak picture� of those who have darker skin.

“The more we challenge these images and our own belief systems,� said Harrison, “the greater the likelihood we will judge an individual by his or her actual merit rather than skin tone.�

The Academy of Management is a leading professional organization for scholars dedicated to creating and disseminating knowledge about management and organizations. Founded in 1936 by two professors, the AOM is the oldest and largest scholarly management association in the world. Today, the group has more than 16,000 members from 97 nations.

The future.....Evolution.....Perfection, Only the best is good enough.... has more chances of getting a job



compared to the sister below.



This sisterhas no chance/distinct disadvantage compared to Alicia keys when they both apply for the same job becauseshe is not the future...perfection and the evolution..., too bad for this sister.

I have recognized this for years. In the company I work for, the very few professional African women are either medium toned to light-skinned. However, nearly all the dark-skinned women do custodial work cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping/mopping floors, etc.

Colourism certainly at play.

this is a semi caste that whites use

there is no "real advantage" to the black person who is seen more favorably.....they will still be seen less favorably than a white person..... so only people who likes being patted on the head by whites would welcome it...


this caste also comes into play when foreign born blacks are seen as less threatening than american born blacks...by some whites...

I've benefitted in certain settings from this "belief" by whites.....but I was perceptive enough to understand that person who feels that way would view a white person as less threatening than they perceive me to be....

you can't get fooled or overly happy that whites are embracing you because they are'nt...., they are creating a caste system....

i've seen non blacks (indians, asians, south american latinos)get this pat on the back from whites and get preferential status to what Blacks get...and many so happy to get it..that they don't see it for what it is....

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good post by the way VK....

Instead of things getting better they appear to be tightening up moreso.

This should put a stop those those diversity experts.

I dont know what goes down in america ,i VE NEVER been.but from what i see on tv, itmust reflect reality to some extent, and american tv is very anti natural black sista when playing lead roles. And what america do england follow. kmt

For example, my wife n kids, girlfriends and the hugsleys

bwoy, im so dis heartened, remember fresh prince, the black mother got bumped off for a light skin version,

in girlfriends the whole cast is half cast , and what makes me laugh are the mixed sistas with afro -ish hair lol, like the producers are trying to "keep it real"

confused3Do american script writers think dark black women are incapable of acting or talent? it does not send out a good body loving image to dark skin sistas or young ones im afraid!

very very sadblktype

Actually more important than skin tone, I think gender is a better determination of which black person gets hired or not. From what I've seen from my university, which is basically a community in itself, whites are more likely to hire black women than black men. White people still very much see blacks as low and animalistic in nature. And since black females are less threatening to them than males, they are more likely to fill up their employment quotas with them than with males. My university has one of the best business schools in the country, and a lot of companies send their employees there to study for their MBAs. They pay for the fees which most ordinary Canadians would not be able to afford on their own. I'm not in business but I work part time in their building and for the whole year that I have been there, I have seen plenty of black women, not as much as other races off course, but I've only seen one black man in the building. He's not light skinned and is not a coconut but he's really thin, straight featured, has an African accent and is medium in height. Besides the dark skin, I think the otherfeatures may have helped him in getting into the school. My father is the only black man at his work as well and he basically falls in the same category as this guy.

The discrimination that goes on in Hollywood, which is disproportinately against dark skinned black females is not the same discrimination that goes on in the work place. Hollywood basis it's discrimination on perceived attractiveness and masculanity and in this case, the light-skinned female is seen as more attractive than the dark skinned female. And the dark skinned male is seen as more masculine than the light skinned male. In the work place, discrimination is based on who whitey is more threatened by and he sees the more African featured male as more threatening out of every black person. They also found the same results in the sentencing ofblack criminals.

And DtotheJ said, being a foreign black is also used as a basis for creating castes. In America, black Americans get fewer breaks than foreign blacks and here in Canada, being a black person of Jamaican descent isnot goodbecause whites love nothing better than to point fingers at Jamaicans for every crime that a black person commits. Even if the person is not Jamaican, their community will be the first place that the police will start looking at.

Also when it comes to other races, black people, not matter our gender or skin tone, will be the last people to be hired. People who are visibly moslem also seem to be at a disadvantage. And out of the non-white groups, Far East Asians receive the most acceptance from whites in all avenues of society.I think this is because they're the group that tries the hardest to fit into mainstream white culture anddespite the Asian males have small penises sterotype, they also have more positive sterotypes than negative ones.

But no matter where you fit into this caste system, no one, unless they're stupid, should be celebrating about it. This is a scheme which not only keep whites at the top, but also stops us from banning together and fighting against them. They basically have us fighting over crumbs by giving us the illusion that if you don't threaten them or are close to them in some manner then you can work through the ranks and be equated with them. But the truth of the matter is that if you are not white, it doesn't matter how light your skin is or what gender you are are, you are still not worth the dirt on their feet and they can and will make you realize this whenever you get beyond yourself and step out of line. But unfortunately neither black people nor other races are willing to stop squabbling over crumbs and start working for a bigger slice of the pie. This is why colourism, ethnocentrism, "hair-textureism etc now exist amongst all non-white races in the world. Unless you're white, you should not be rejoicing over the plight of anyone, because sooner or later, you're going to face the heat as well. Just ask the Arabs.