THE ETHICS OF JOB DISCRIMINATION

CHAPTER # 7

Introduction:
In the experience of the companies like 3M, Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Nike, Coca-Cola, Shell, Procter & Gamble, General Motors, and over 50 others argued: Individuals who have been educated in a diverse setting are more likely to succeed, because they can make valuable contributions to the workforce in several important and concrete ways. First, a diverse group of individuals educated in a cross-cultural environment has the ability to facilitate unique and creative approaches to problem-solving arising from the integration of different perspectives. (continue)..
2

Introduction:
Second, such individuals are better able to develop products and services that appeal to a variety of consumers and to market offerings in ways that appeal to those consumers. Third a racially diverse group of managers with crosscultural experience is better able to work with business partners, employees, and clientele in all-around the world. Fourth, individuals who have been educated in a diverse setting are likely to contribute to a positive work environment, by decreasing incidents of discrimination and stereotyping. Overall, an educational environment that ensures participation by diverse people, view-points and ideas will help produce the most talented workforce.
3

Introduction
Discusses internal conflicts in business job discrimination Injustice prevalent in business Criticism of affirmative action: special privileges for a select minority is in effect a type of discrimination Discrimination based on gender and race is considerable and persistent Need to examine nature of discrimination and ethical aspects of such behaviour

Job Discrimination: Its Nature

Discrimination in its root meaning refers to the act of distinguishing one object from another. In modern usage, the term refers to "wrongful discrimination," or distinguishing among people on the basis of narrow-mindedness instead of individual merit. Discrimination in employment involves three basic elements:
It must be a decision not based on individual merit. The decision must derive from racial or sexual prejudice. The decision must have a harmful impact on the interest of employees

Forms of Discrimination: Intentional and Institutional Aspects

A framework for analyzing different forms of discrimination can be constructed by distinguishing the extent to which a discriminatory act is intentional and isolated (or non institutionalized) and the extent to which it is unintentional and institutionalized. First, a discriminatory act may be part of the isolated (non institutionalized) behavior of a single individual who intentionally and knowingly discriminates out of personal prejudice. Second, a discriminatory act may be part of the routine behavior of an institutionalized group, which intentionally and knowingly discriminated out of the personal prejudices of its members.
6

Forms of Discrimination: Intentional and Institutional Aspects

Third, an act of discrimination may be part of the isolated (non institutional) behavior of a single individual who unintentionally and unknowingly discriminates against someone because the individual unthinkingly adopts the traditional practices and stereotypes of the surrounding society. Fourth, a discriminatory act may be part of the systematic routine of a corporate organization or group that un intentionally incorporated into its into its formal institutionalized procedures practices that discriminate against women or minorities.
7

Discrimination: Its Extent Discrimination exists when a disproportionate number of a certain group's members hold less desirable positions despite their preferences and abilities. Three types of comparisons provide evidence:
Comparisons of average benefits given to various groups, Comparisons of the proportion of the discriminated group found in the lowest levels of the institutions with the proportions of other groups found at those levels. Comparisons of the proportions of that group that holds the more advantageous positions with the proportions of other groups that hold those same positions.
8

Average Income Comparisons

Income comparisons are the most suggestive indicators of discrimination. Income gap between whites and blacks has not decreased black average family income remains about 65% that of whites. Similar inequalities found based on gender.

Ratio between male/female earnings getting equal, largely due not to a rise in female earnings but a drop in male earnings. inequality begin immediately after graduation, female college graduates earn as much as male high school graduates. In every occupational group, women earn less than men. Blacks fare a bit better than females, but not much. (in America in 1975 the average income for a Black family was 64 percent of a White familys average income; in 2001, the average Black familys income had declined to 60 percent of the average White familys income. )
9

Lowest Income Group Comparisons

Poverty rate among minorities is 2 3 times higher than among the Whites Families headed by single women fall below the poverty level than those headed by single men Lowest income group comparisons and desirable occupation comparisons give similar results. Statistics showed that:
Larger proportions of minorities and women are poor, Larger proportions of white males have the most desirable occupations. The more women who work in an occupation, the lower the average pay for that job.
10

Desirable Occupation Comparisons Desirable occupations held by Whites Less desirable by Blacks Well-paying occupations reserved for men and remainder for women The more women working in an occupation, the lower the pay for that occupation Women managers not promoted from middlemanagement positions into top-management posts
11

Discrimination: Utility, Rights and Justice

Inequalities found in businesses should be address and if wrong should be changed. Arguments against discrimination fall into three groups:
utilitarian arguments, rights arguments, justice arguments.

12

Utility
The utilitarian argument against discrimination maintains that society's productivity will be highest when jobs are awarded based on competence or merit. Discrimination based on anything else is inefficient and counter to utility. Criticism of Utilitarian arguments:
if jobs assigned on the basis of job-related qualifications to advance public welfare, and if public welfare is advanced to greater degree by assigning jobs on basis of other factor not related to job performance, then the utilitarian would have to hold that in those situations jobs should not be assigned on the basis of job related qualifications, but on the basis of that other factor. (e.g.: if societys welfare would be promoted more by assigning certain jobs on the basis of need (or gender or race) instead of job qualifications, then the utilitarian would have to concede that need (gender of race) and not job qualification, is the proper basis for assigning those jobs. ) it might be true that society as a whole would benefit by having some group discriminated against (as gender discrimination) 13

Rights
Other, non-utilitarian arguments against discrimination maintain that it is wrong because it violates people's basic human rights. Kant says that humans should be treated as ends in themselves and never as a means to an end. Therefore, discrimination is wrong because it violates people's rights to be treated as equals. Kantian thinkers argue that discrimination is wrong because the person who discriminates would not want to see his or her behavior universalized (at least they would not want to change places with the victim of their own discrimination).
14

Justice
A third group of arguments against discrimination views it as unjust. Rawls argues that it is unjust to give some people more opportunity than others. Another argument sees it as a form of injustice because individuals who are equal in all relevant respects cannot be treated differently just because they differ in other, nonrelevant respects. Criticism:
difficult to account what is relevant and to explain why gender and race are not relevant, but intelligence is.
15

Discriminatory Practices Despite difficulties of arguments against discrimination, five recognized categories of discriminatory practices:

Recruitment practices: firms that rely solely on the word-ofmouth referrals of present employees to recruit new workers tend to recruit only from those racial and sexual groups that are already represented in their labor force. When a firms labor force is composed of only White males, this recruitment policy will tend to discriminate against minorities and women. Screening practices: that include qualifications not relevant to job (e.g. requiring a certain level of education for very low-level jobs) Aptitude or intelligence tests used to screen applicants become discriminatory when they serve to disqualify members from minority cultures who are unfamiliar with the language, concepts, and social situations used in the tests but who are in fact fully qualified for the job. Job interviews are discriminatory if the interviewer routinely disqualifies women and minorities 16 by relying on sexual of racial stereotypes.

Discriminatory Practices
Promotion practices: Promotion, job progression, and transfer practices are discriminatory when employers place White males on job tracks separate from those open to women and minorities. Seniority system will be discriminatory if past discrimination has eliminated minorities and women from the higher, more senior positions on the advancement ladder. Conditions of employment: that do not award equal wages and salaries to people doing essentially the same work. Discharging: firing an employee on the basis of race or gender is a clear form of discrimination. Less obvious but still discriminatory are layoff policies that rely on a seniority system, in which women and minorities have17 the lowest seniority because of past discrimination.

Sexual Harassment (1) Women are victims of a different and troublesome type of discrimination: sexual harassment.

18

Sexual Harassment (2) Critics:

These kinds of environments not intended to degrade women, Women have the power to take care of themselves. Sexual harassment depends purely subjective judgments of the victim; what is unreasonable to one person may seem perfectly acceptable to another.

19

Beyond Race and Sex: Other Groups Groups other than women and racial minorities can be the victims of discrimination. The disabled, victims of different diseases which do not effect their work, old age people and the overweight are all discriminated against. Currently, there are no federal laws prohibiting discrimination against many of these groups.

20

Affirmative Action The policies discussed in this chapter are all negative, aimed at preventing further discrimination. Affirmative action programs, in contrast, call for positive steps designed to eliminate the effects of past discrimination. Such begin with a detailed study, a "utilization analysis" of the major job classifications in an organization.
Analysis designed to uncover whether fewer minorities/ women in a particular job classification than could be expected. If the analysis shows that women or minorities are underutilized, then the firm must establish practices to correct these deficiencies

21

Affirmative Action as Compensation (1) Those who see affirmative action as a form of compensation maintain that white males must pay compensation for unjustly injuring others by discrimination in the past. Difficulty: the principle of compensatory justice requires that compensation should come only from specific individuals who intentionally inflicted a wrong, and should be paid only to specific individuals who suffered that wrong.
22

Affirmative Action as Compensation (2) It does not require that compensation should come from all members of a group containing some wrongdoers, nor that compensation should go to all members of a group containing some injured parties. Many have attempted to counter this argument by claiming that every minority living today has been injured by discrimination and that every white male has benefited from those injuries. Whether these arguments are successful or not is unclear.
23

Affirmative Action as an Instrument for Achieving Utilitarian Goals and Equal Justice

The second way of justifying affirmative action sees it as an instrument for social change. Such arguments maintain that race and gender provide an indicator of need. Since reducing this need is consistent with utilitarian principles (as it will increase total utility), affirmative action is justified. Objections:
whether the social costs of affirmative action programs (such as the frustrations felt by White males) outweigh their benefits. (the goal of affirmative action is social justice, and that affirmative action is a morally legitimate means for achieving this goal. )
24

Affirmative Action as an Instrument for Achieving Utilitarian Goals and Equal Justice
One end of the affirmative action is bring about distribution of societys benefits and burdens that is consistent with the principles of distributive justice an that eliminates the important position race and sex currently have in the assignment of jobs. The second end of affirmative action programs is to neutralize such conscious and unconscious bias to ensure equal opportunity to women and minorities. The third end of affirmative action programs is to neutralize these competitive disadvantages with which women and minorities are currently burdened when they compete with White males and thereby bring women and minorities to the same starting point in their competitive race with others. The aim is to ensure an equal ability to compete with White males.
25

Implementing Affirmative Action and Managing Diversity

Opponents of affirmative action programs have argued that other criteria besides race and sex have to be weighed. First, if sex and race are the only criteria used, this will result in the hiring of unqualified personnel and a consequent decline in productivity. Second, many jobs have significant impacts on the lives of other (such as the job of flight controller or surgeon), the criteria other than race or gender should have a prominent place and should override affirmative action. The affirmative action programs, if continued, will turn us into a more racially and sexually conscious nation.
26

Implementing Affirmative Action and Managing Diversity

The following guidelines have been suggested as a way to fold these sort of considerations into an affirmative action program when minorities are underrepresented in a firm. 1. Both minorities and nonminority should be hired or promoted only if they reach certain minimum levels of competency or are capable of reaching such levels in a reasonable time. 2. If the qualifications of the minority candidate are only slightly less (or equal to or higher) than those of the nonminority, then the minority should be given preference. 3. If both minority and nonminority candidates are adequately qualified for a position but the nonminority candidate is much more qualified, then:
a) If performance in the job directly affects the lives and safety of people (such as a surgeon or a airline pilot) or if performance on the job has a substantial and critical effect on the entire firms efficiency, then the more qualified nonminority should be given preference; but If the position does not directly involve safety factors and does not have a substantial and highly critical effect on a firms efficiency, then the minority person should be given preference.
27

b)

Implementing Affirmative Action and Managing Diversity

4. Preference should be extended to minority candidates only so long as their representation throughout the various levels of the firm is not proportional to their availability.

28