S. Michael Gaddis
NWEA
Working Paper
Publication Types:
Do Naming Practices Influence Boundary Crossing for Immigrants in the U.S.? Experimental Evidence on Perceptions of Multi-Generational Nativity, Citizenship Status, and Race/Ethnicity
Abstract
Immigrants have several tools at their disposal to assimilate into and cross over nativity and racial/ethnic boundaries in receiving countries. First names, for example, can mark immigrants’ children as more ‘American’ and less ‘immigrant’ and perhaps limit discrimination based on nativity status. However, limited research examines how Americans perceive such names, restricting scholarly understanding of who is allowed to cross nativity and racial/ethnic boundaries. We conduct four survey experiments with 6,651 respondents, examining 80,920 perceptions of multi-generational nativity, citizenship status, and race/ethnicity from 712 racialized names. We find that respondents rate fully-ethnic Chinese, Hispanic, and Indian names as more likely to belong to recent immigrants and less likely to belong to citizens than White and Black names. Respondents rate anglicized first names with ethnic last names between those groups. Moreover, they view anglicized first names with Hispanic last names as less likely to belong to recent immigrants and more likely to belong to citizens and Whites than other ethnic counterparts. Our findings suggest that (1) individuals with anglicized Hispanic names are most able to cross boundaries and (2) overall boundaries based on nativity may be more porous than those based on race and ethnicity.
Keywords
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Immigration
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Citizenship
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Names
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Nativity
- Boundary Formation
Racial/Ethnic Discrimination and Heterogeneity Across Schools in the U.S. Public Education System: A Correspondence Audit of Principals
Abstract
Although numerous studies document different forms of discrimination in the U.S. public education system, very few provide plausibly causal estimates. Thus, it is unclear to what extent public school principals discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities. Moreover, no studies test for heterogeneity in racial/ethnic discrimination by individual-level resource needs and school-level resource strain – potentially important moderators in the education context. Using a correspondence audit, we examine bias against Black, Hispanic, and Chinese American families in interactions with 52,792 public K-12 principals in 33 states. Our research provides causal evidence that Hispanic and Chinese American families face significant discrimination in initial interactions with principals, regardless of individual-level resource needs. Black families, however, only face discrimination when they have high resource needs. Additionally, principals in schools with greater resource strain discriminate more against Chinese American families. This research uncovers complexities of racial/ethnic discrimination in the K-12 context because we examine multiple racial/ethnic groups and test for heterogeneity across individual- and school-level variables. These findings highlight the need for researchers conducting future correspondence audits to expand the scope of their research to provide a more comprehensive analysis of racial/ethnic discrimination in the U.S.
Keywords
- Correspondence audits
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K-12 education
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Racial/ethnic discrimination
- Public schools
Signaling Class: An Examination of the Treatment Validity of Names Used to Signal Race in Bias Experiments with Methodological Recommendations for Name Selection
Abstract
Racial bias experiments commonly use names to signal race as treatments. However, recent methodological examinations find that individuals often perceive class and race together. This calls into question the treatment validity of thousands of experiments. Still, little evidence exists on what leads to name perceptions and how scholars might increase treatment validity in future studies. I suggest that racialized and classed demographic naming patterns may influence individuals’ perceptions of names. I conducted two survey experiments and used demographic birth record data to examine social class perceptions. In total, 7,695 respondents provided 82,321 perceptions on 636 combinations of first and last names. Although demographic naming patterns have small effects on respondents’ social class perceptions of White-signaled names, classed patterns have a large effect on respondents’ perceptions of Black-signaled names. These findings suggest that treatment validity is a severe problem for bias experiments. To help mitigate this problem, I provide seven recommendations that researchers should implement in all experiments that use names to signal various characteristics. Scholars who follow these recommendations will neutralize or minimize threats to treatment validity, engage in a more empirical and open scientific process, and, in some cases, open up new avenues of research on bias.
Keywords
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Social class
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Racial/ethnic discrimination
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Names
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Audit Studies
- Experiments
Discrimination Against Black and Hispanic Americans is Highest in Hiring and Housing Contexts: A Meta-Analysis of Correspondence Audits
Abstract
To what extent does racial/ethnic discrimination in America differ across contexts? In this paper, we provide the largest and most comprehensive review of racial/ethnic discrimination research to date. We conducted a meta-analysis of 78 correspondence audits in the United States, representing over half a million applications, emails, and other forms of correspondence that occur in all aspects of modern society, including the hiring, housing, medical, public services, and education sectors. We find that racial/ethnic discrimination in the United States continues to be a large problem, but discrimination against racial/ethnic minorities simultaneously exhibits a substantial amount of contextual heterogeneity not recognized in previous discrimination research. Discrimination against Black Americans is most common in hiring, followed by the rental housing context. Discrimination against Hispanic Americans is highest in hiring, but discrimination in other contexts is considerably lower. Although discrimination occurs in education, medical, and public services contexts, it is far less common in these sectors. Altogether, our findings suggest that discrimination is more common in economic contexts that are more resource-intensive and have higher stakes, despite stronger legal protections against discrimination in those same contexts. Our work confirms that racial/ethnic discrimination in the United States continues to be a persistent and pervasive phenomenon that impacts many core parts of the lives of Black and Hispanic Americans and simultaneously reinforces and exacerbates existing inequalities.
Keywords
- Racial/ethnic discrimination
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Correspondence audits
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Field experiments
- Meta-analysis
Moving to the City: An Audit Study Examining the Consequences of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination on Residential Segregation
Abstract
This study uses experimental methods to investigate covert racial discrimination in “roommate wanted” ads on Craigslist. Roommate relationships include significant social dimensions, and are an important site through which segregation may be reproduced or broken down, but have received very little attention by researchers. We develop fictitious racially-coded female names and identities for white, black, Hispanic, Chinese, and Indian room-seekers, along with Hispanic, Chinese, and Indian room-seekers with “Americanized” first names. We implement a field experiment and respond to over 1,500 “roommate wanted” advertisements on Craigslist across three metropolitan areas. Our emails express interest in the roommate-wanted ad, and mention that the sender is college-educated and employed full-time. We monitor response rates in the aggregate and within Census tracts of varying racial and economic characteristics. We find severe discrimination against African Americans, Hispanics, and Chinese-origin individuals. Asians with Americanized first names are treated equally to whites, while traditional Indian names and Americanized Latina names face moderate levels of discrimination. Patterns of discrimination by neighborhood race and class characteristics yield better access to upward mobility for Asian Americans than for underrepresented minority group members. Our findings reveal an important social mechanism that constricts integration and opportunity, shed new light on Asians’ and Latinas’ place in the US race system, reveal important interactions of race and presumed nativity, and show the ongoing relevance of race.
Keywords
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Housing
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Racial/ethnic discrimination
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Audit studies
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Experiments