Corporate Social Responsibility and Discrimination

Corporate Social Responsibility and Discrimination

This book presents and deconstructs the existing explanations for the differential
career development of qualified men and women. It reframes the problem of
discrimination in the workplace as a matter of organizational ethics, social
responsibility and compliance with existing equal opportunity laws. Sensitive
points are identified where social biases, decision-makers‘ individual economic
interests and shortcomings of organizational incentive policies may lead to
discrimination against qualified women. The ideas put forward are empirically
tested in an original laboratory experiment that examines personnel selection
in the male-dominated field of science and technology. It contrasts the
selection of applicants with gendered and gender-blind applications available
to subjects under controlled conditions. 30% of participants were high-level
decision-makers, which is unprecedented in this field of research. The results,
highly relevant for organizational practice, are explained and discussed in
detail.