Description:
This article examines racial and ethnic discrimination in the child care teacher hiring process. We construct a unique data set that combines a resume audit study of center-based providers with a follow-up survey of those in the original audit sample. Fictitious resumes were randomly assigned White-, Black-, and Hispanic-sounding names and submitted in response to real teacher job advertisements. The survey was then administered to capture the characteristics of children, teachers, and
administrators within the center. These data reveal three key results. First, we find robust evidence of discrimination: Black
and Hispanic applicants receive significantly fewer interview requests than observationally equivalent Whites. Second, our results are consistent with a model of customer discrimination: The racial and ethnic composition of the center's customer base is correlated with the characteristics of job seekers receiving an interview. Finally, we show that states' child care regulations mitigate the racial and ethnic gap in interview requests. (author abstract)
Resource Type:
Reports & Papers
Country:
United States
State(s)/Territories/Tribal Nation(s):
Arizona;
California;
District of Columbia;
Georgia;
Illinois;
Massachusetts;
Minnesota;
New York;
Pennsylvania;
Texas;
Washington