For the light-skinned male with just the bachelor’s degree, the average rating was 5.35. For the dark-skinned Black male with an MBA, the average rating was 4.5.
Overall, women received higher ratings than men, Harrison says, perhaps because 72 percent of the participants were female and majoring in psychology.
Faculty supervisor, Dr. Kecia M. Thomas, a professor of applied psychology and acting director of UGA’s Institute for African American Studies, says responses would probably be similar no matter where such a study was done in the country.
“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 work place. There are real-world consequences to these issues,” says Thomas.
Adds Harrison: “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.”
— By Shilpa Banerji
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