AE2: Project Proposal
Unit code: MAN130
Word count: 3109
Solent University
Table of contents
Table of contents 1
Introduction 2
Aim and objectives 3
Literature review 3
Recruitment and Curriculum Vitae 3
Gender 4
Discrimination 5
Methodology 6
Conclusion 9
References 10
Appendixes 13
Appendix 1: Interpretive Paradigm (Burrell and Morgan 1979) 13
Appendix 2: Gant Diagram 14
Introduction
Recruiting candidates with the correct skill set and competence is considered to be a critical competitive advantage for any organisation (Kaufmann and Kaufmann 2015; Brown and Swain 2015). Through internationalization of national economies organisations are becoming more diverse (Triana 2017) creating movements towards modernisations of labour markets; hence movements towards equality for all genders (Moreno et. al. 2012). However, gender inequalities and substenical differences related to gender in organisations still persist (Garcia-Izquierdo, Ramos-Villagrasa and Castano 2015; Hultin and Szulkin 1999)
Seen from an organizational point of view; it is in organizations best interest to be aware of the legal aspect of diversity and its consequences and act accordingly in order to follow achieve equality and diversity in the workplace. Organisational teams consisting of all genders contributes to different points of view (Kaufmann and Kaufmann 2013), and diverse companies, especially in the management group contributes to financial success (Franklin 2013).
Gender discrimination is illegal in various areas in the world, also when recruiting for the future workforce (Connolly 2011; Skjønberg, Hognestad and Hotvedt 2017). There are various studies and academic work regarding discrimination in the recruitment process as a whole but limited attention has been paid to whether discrimination occurs early in the hiring decision; as early as when reviewing the candidates CV`s. The author wants to further contribute to the academic community by investigate into this specific topic.
The rise of feminism in various parts of the world and the rise of equal rights for all genders has increased in particular since the late 1990s and has offered an opportune moment to critically review the positioning of gender studies in academic history (Liddington 2001). The author is from one of the most equalised countries in the world (Norway), but still experiences gender inequalities (United Nations 2017). This, combined with being a feminist, creates great motivation for the author’s work.
Aim and objectives
Aim:
To investigate the extent to which the applicant´s gender affects the CV selection process in the hotel sector in Bergen, Norway
Objective 1:
To evaluate whether employers discriminate based on gender in the CV evaluation process
Objective 2:
To critically assess the reasons behind whether or not employers discriminate based on gender as seen from an organisational point of view
Objective 3:
To discuss how organisations can prevent gender discrimination for future recruitment
Literature review
A literature review provides context and theoretical framework (Saunders et. al. 2016) and in order to understand the theories related to the aim a wide range of sources have been revised and critically analysed. It starts by discussing literature in terms of recruitment in general as well as the Curiculum Vitae, followed by a critical review of gender; its similarities and differences, and eventually a critical literary review about discrimination and mostly reasons why humans discriminate.
Recruitment and Curriculum Vitae
In a human resource management perspective; recruitment is the process of locating and hiring the best and most qualified candidate for a vacancy in a timely and cost-effective manner (O’Meara and Petzall 2013; Brown and Swain 2015). Recruitment is a form of communication to a targeted group of individuals informing them about requirements to fill a vacancy, as well as the application process as a whole (O’Meara and Petzall 2013).
A part of the recruitment process is the process of selecting a candidate based on objectives and requirements such as competence, education and experience. Usually, the employer requires a Curriculum Vitae (CV) which is an overview of a person’s experience and qualifications for a job opportunity (Rodgers 2017). This is an important part of the selection process because it’s the first change a candidate gets to make a first impression on a potential future employer (O’Meara and Petzall 2013). A CV is usually structured in a A4 document consisting of information such as personal details, skills, personal profile, employment history, qualifications, education (Bright and Earl 2015). In addition to education and experience, the length and the layout are important factors for employers. A study done by Arnulf, Tegner and Larssen (2010) revealed that formal resume design was preferred over the “creative” layout, however new hiring trends such as using video recordings are increasingly becoming a reality (Rodgers 2017).
Gender
Globalization has changed the marketplace and organisations and recent research shows that one of the best ways to gain a competitive advantage is through diversifying the workforce (Franklin 2013; Eastman 2018). However, gender discrimination is a reality in recruitment limiting the size of organizations talent pool (Garcia-Izquierdo, Ramos-Villagrasa and Castano 2015; Hultin and Szulkin 1999). In order to understand the underlying reasons behind gender discrimination it is important to understand the biological and social meaning of gender.
In general terms; sex or sex dimorphism is a term used in biological theory to differentiate between females and males, such as genetic differences and genitalia (Newman 2018). On the other hand, some argue that gender is not applicable to the biology of human nature; it is rather a cultural phenomenon when referring to men and women as social groups (Udry 1994). In the social sciences gender is described by societies and how sex categories are managed, gender roles and the cultural meanings attached and how individuals understand their identities as a man, woman, or other gender positions (Zevallos 2014). In other words: gender difference is mainly due to nurture, and sex difference is due to nature (Urdy 1994). Mills (2011) and Wharton (2011) does not fully agree with the statement and argues that many gender differences will be found to be sex differences.
Generally, there is acceptance in biological theory as well as in the social sciences that the sexes differ from each other in various ways; for example, men have a fact-based approach to their environment while women tend to have a more emotional approach when perceiving people and events (Eliot 2009). However, there is nothing major that demonstrates morphological brain differences between the sexes, especially intellectually (Zevallos 2014). A positive way of using the differences as an advantage is as Annis and Nesbit (2017) states: not to confuse equal with same but rather use the differences to complement each other.
Females and males are treated differently among parents, teachers, and caretakers from infancy (Franklin 2013) which has over time contributed to the creation of gender roles. Gender role can be described as an expressed level of masculinity or femininity (Wharton 2011; Reber 1995). In order to investigate the importance of gender in recruitment it one need to understand how gender roles are created which starts in early childhood. Social learning theory suggest that gender roles are learned through positive or negative reinforcements similar to the perspective that acknowledges that learning take place through observation and modeling (Bandura and Walters 1963). A weakness with the social learning perspective is that it neglects the individual’s accountability and blames society for its behaviours and acts. A different perspective that compliments the social learning is a cognitive approach focuses on the way children seek to recognise different expectations for males and females which motivates to comply with the expectations (Kohlberg 1966 in Wharton 2011). A combination of two different perspectives strengthen the understanding of gender which lays a foundation for understanding its influence in recruitment.
Discrimination
The literature is generally agreeing on the definition of discrimination: the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people or groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age or sexual orientation (Skjønberg, Hognestad and Hotvedt 2017; Cavico, Muffler and Mujtaba 2012; American Psychological Association 2018). Intended discrimination is in most part of the world unethical as well as illegal by law (Connolly 2011; Skjønberg, Hognestad and Hotvedt 2017). There are exceptions, often if the law specifically says it’s legal, for instance when recruiting female prison guards or hiring male teachers if they are outnumbered according to a pre-decided quote (Skjønberg, Hognestad and Hotvedt 2017). The challenge with discrimination is that the feeling of being discriminated is not necessarily tantamount to being victim of discrimination; there is a high degree of subjectiveness of experienced treatment and whether it is considered to be subjective or objective discrimination (Naff 1995).
Why do humans discriminate? Humans categorize people and objects naturally and often without awareness; it’s a rather normal and natural part of human’s cognitive behaviour (Cavico, Muffler and Mujtaba 2012). However, discrimination goes beyond that. People discriminate based on a factors such as personal history, sociocultural practices, economic forces, sociological trends and the influence of community and family beliefs (Keita and Peterson 1996). There are different types of discrimination, either focusing on individual behaviours or whole groups within society, often referred to as structural discrimination or inequality (Pratto, Sidanius and Levin 2006). Subjective discrimination is similar to what National Research Council (2004) refers to as intentional explicit discrimination which is obvious avoidance, physical attack or extermination (Allport 1954 in National Research Council 2004). It is also similar to automatic discrimination which is unconscious associations and beliefs affecting attitudes or/and behaviours. Also, statistical discrimination is a form of subjective discrimination using overall beliefs about a group to make decisions about an individual from that group. (Arrow 1973 et.al. in National Research Council 2004). National Research Council mainly focused on race in its literature, however discrimination in regard to gender is based upon the same discrimination theory (Wharton 2011) and gender is particularly relevant when discussing automatic discrimination.
Based on the literary review, the author holds a more indepth knowledge and understanding of the three main thematic areas for the project; the CV selection process, gender and discrimination. The CV is widely used in recruitment and enables a positive or negative first impression, based on various factors such as layout and length. Gender is discussed in the literature, however there is to a high extent agreement that the sexes differ but differ very little intellectually. Discrimination is a process that goes beyond categorizing people and objects, which is a normal cognitive process for humans. The combination of the two thematic areas; discrimination and gender are an unfortunate combination that can limit the size of organizations talent pool (Garcia-Izquierdo, Ramos-Villagrasa and Castano 2015; Hultin and Szulkin 1999).
Methodology
Research philosophy refers to a system of beliefs and assumptions about the development of knowledge. If the assumptions are well-thought-out and consistent, it will contribute to a credible research philosophy, which will underpin the methodological choice, research strategy, data collection and the analysis (Saunders et al, 2016).
The research philosophy that will be applied is interpretivism and interpretivist researchers argue that human beings and their social worlds are far too complex to be studied as a physical phenomenon (Rubin and Rubin 2012; Saunders et al, 2016). The primary focus in interpretivism is to make sense of the world around us (Saunders et al. 2016; Johannessen, Tufte and Christoffersen 2016). This specific research philosophy can be placed in the bottom left corner of the interpretive paradigm (Appendix 1) due to high degree of subjectivism and social regulation (Burrell and Morgan 1979). Interpretivism is not beneficial if the purpose change trends or challenges in an organisation as a whole or due to the fact that interpretivism focuses on investigating a theme selected in depth (Saunders et. al. 2016). The data may also be heavily impacted by personal viewpoint and values. In the authors case the purpose is not to generalize; the author wants to investigate a specific theme at a specific location and find out as much in depth as possible about each and every respondent personal view on the thematic area.
The study will be supported by existing literature and theory; similar to the deduction method. However, the goal is not to explain a causal relationship between concepts and variables but rather to get a feel of what is going on and understand better the nature of meaning. This alternative approach is called induction (Johannessen, Tufte and Christoffersen 2016; Saunders et al, 2016). A combination of both approaches would be ideal in order to use current literature as a base and at the same time find meaning behind the selected topic; abductive reasoning will therefore be applied (Suddaby, 2006 cited in Saunders et al., 2016). There are also few studies of the specific area of the impact of gender on the CV which creates a possibility to build new theory. In abductive reasoning, the weaknesses and the strengths of deduction and induction are combined. In order for receive the highest possible validity the author needs to show awareness; deduction has a tendency to construct a rigid plan not allowing other explanations to be made and induction can disprove one’s logic due to observations that might be out of the ordinary (Eiter and Gottlob 1995).
In order to collect data, the author will use the qualitative method of semi structured interviews. Gender and possible gender discrimination might feel like a sensitive topic for many; it is therefore important to make the respondent feel as comfortable as possible in order to get honest and accurate answers. Semi-structured interviews contribute to a more relaxed atmosphere between the interviewer and the respondent because it is more similar to a conversation than a rigid question and answer scheme (Johannessen, Tufte and Christoffersen 2016). Accordingly, follow up questions are important in order to make the conversation flow (Saunders et al, 2016). Before the interview starts the author plans on showing the respondent 6-8 self-made fictitious CVs with almost the same content, but different genders. Genders will be differentiated by having typical Norwegian female/male names. The author also wants to include non-gender names in order to see if that might affect the selection. Additionally, for the respondent to understand and relate to the situation the best possible way, the author will tell them that the candidate, whom fictitiously will be recruited, is going to closely work with the respondent on a daily basis. This will cause the respondent to closely evaluate the pros and cons of each candidate.
Because of the specific location, defined time perspective, and in-depth investigation into a specific topic with a real life setting the strategy applied is a case study (Jacobsen 2015; Saunders et al. 2016), with a cross sectional horizon. Also, the author has limited access to resources and the usage of time, and needs to be realistic, delineate and define the possible area of study; which makes a case study suitable. Disadvantages with case studies are many. Case studies cannot be generalized from one case to another if not data from similar cases has been collected satisfyingly. Questions and criticism towards whether case studies have an ability to produce reliable and theoretical contributions to knowledge has been countered in many work (Flyberg 2011; Jacobsen 2015; Saunders et al 2016); however, by determining the boundaries at an early stage is a key factor and highly beneficial (Flyberg 2011); something the author is already aware of at this point.
The authors former job experience in five different hotels in Bergen provides access to several hotel managers that recruit to their departments. The study will therefore take place at the five hotels from the Nordic Choice Hotel-chain in the city centre of Bergen; Comfort Hotel Holberg, Hotel Oleana, Hotel No 13, Clarion Collection Hotel Havnekontoret and Comfort Hotel Bergen Airport. Each hotel has several middle managers whom some have already agreed to participate in the study. The author has been aware not to share detailed information of the study in order to avoid weakening the validity. The author is aiming for at least 10 interviews with managers that recruit. Due to the authors connection with some of the managers the sample is a non-probability and the sampling technique is homogeneous sampling due to the fact that all the respondents are managers and employed in the same hotel chain (Saunders et. al. 2016). On one hand, this is positive when the aim is to investigate a phenomenon on depth, however on the other hand these types of samples can rarely be considered statistically representative (Johannessen, Tufte and Christoffersen 2016).
As soon as possible after the interviews are completed the author plan to transcribe them. Then, the data needs to be categorised into themes (Discrimination and Gender) and the categories needs to be linked with the pre-decided themes in a way that provide a structure and can further answer the authors research question. This process is named coding and is often done manually by locating similarities and differences between the respondent’s statements (Saunders et. al. 2016; Johannessen, Christoffersen and Tufte 2016). Based on the coding, a discussion of the findings can be presented and eventually summarised in a conclusion.
Throughout the whole process it is important to consider and evaluate research ethics in order to minimize harms and risks and maximise benefits by respecting respondent’s privacy and autonomy (Johannessen, Tufte and Christoffersen 2016). The author will early on explain to all respondents that everything discussed is strictly confidential and names and anything that might reveal who the person is will be anonymized. The author also wants to record the interview in order to get as accurate information as possible which enables the author to focus more on the respondent than worrying about remembering information correctly afterwards (Gjerde 2010). This can potentially create a concern of respondents (Johannessen, Tufte and Christoffersen 2016; Saunders et al 2016) A way of reducing the concern is to professionally explain how data will be handled as well as providing a contract between the author and the respondent in a declaration of consent form.
Conclusion
Using theory about the CV-selection process and gender, combined with the presented methodology; this study aims to investigate the extent candidates gender affects the CV selection process and consequently if gender discrimination occurs.
On one hand it is expected that discrimination based on gender might occur due to the fact that humans tend to categorize, often without being aware (Keita and Peterson 1996). On the other hand, the study will take place in a country with a high gender equality index (United Nations 2017) which makes the author believe gender discrimination on the CV will happen to a small extent.
There are some obstacles that can have a negative impact in achieving valid results of the study. The author is concerned about the part of the interview when presenting fictitious CV`s to the respondent; is there enough participants in order to to locate a trend that can explain why some candidates are chosen over others? Another area of concern is the author’s biasness due to the previous job in Nordic Choice Hotels. The author believes the hotel chain is highly ethical and rarely discriminates based on gender. The author is early aware of the challenge and will write about how that might affect the research.
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Appendixes
Appendix 1: Interpretive Paradigm (Burrell and Morgan 1979)
Appendix 2: Gant Diagram
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