L01 Other Sources of Discrimination

Even though Race and Gender are the most obvious demographic characteristics perceived as sources of discrimination, there are at least five more major characteristics which powerfully affect not just salaries, but other work-related processes and outcomes. These are family, religion, age, ability, and appearance. We will study each of them in-depth later in our course, but for now, let us review a quick description of each.

Family structure interacts powerfully with gender, because of the roles that women have traditionally played within their families. It is true that our society has become more accepting of husbands and male partners taking care of children, sick, or older family members, while wives or female partners are the breadwinners. But the fact remains that most families in the U.S. (and around the world) rely on women for household responsibilities and on men for earning money for sustenance.

Religion is the system of beliefs, practices, knowledge, and feelings that individuals hold to understand or complement what science and observations are unable to explain, particularly as they relate to what is considered sacred. Because of the way the U.S. was founded, freedom of religion is enshrined in the first amendment to the Constitution. But the way this freedom is understood and enacted is often another source of discrimination or privilege.

Age discrimination occurs more often at the later and the earlier stages of participation in the workforce, but old-age discrimination is the only one that has legal protection at the federal level. Later in this course, we will examine evidence demonstrating that a great deal of stereotypes and expectations about individuals outside the conventional working ages are unfounded. This implies that the current legislation forbidding discrimination against individuals within certain age brackets is well-founded, but more might be needed, especially now that our life expectancy and the “shelf-life” of productive workers continues to increase.

Ability is the term that we use to refer to the temporary or permanent physical or mental departures from what society considers the norm based on health. Some examples of this include vision, hearing, motion, and similar physical impairments, as well as autism, learning, and other mental impairments. Most individuals experience at least a temporary disability during their life; this justifies the existence of accommodations that can be extended to others with more permanent disabilities without a large effort on the part of society and employers. Unfortunately, perceptions of inadequacy based on ability prevail in society, often despite scientific evidence that refutes them; this justifies our exploration of these issues.

Appearance is another important category that strongly affects work processes and outcomes in ways that, similar to the above, are often unfair and hard to justify. In a later lesson, we will review studies that show how weight, height, beauty, and similar factors related to appearance affect and are affected by workplace decisions. As in the previous cases, most studies concur that these disparities are morally unjustifiable and often have no validation from a business perspective.

 

This is not an exhaustive list; other factors (e.g., rural versus urban company setting, industry) might also explain not just the gaps in salary, but also in promotions, development opportunities, benefits, disciplinary actions, and other terms of employment. In fact, even before a person becomes an employee, they might be discriminated against in terms of landing interviews, receiving callbacks, and other employer activities that impact work satisfaction, commitment, and productivity.