In some ways, subtle discrimination is worse than blatant discrimination. Subtle discrimination can be more harmful in the long term and become part of a company’s culture. Also, if you are not on the lookout for it, you may not realize it is happening to you or that you are making potentially discriminatory comments.
Subtle discrimination tends to be practiced against women, older workers, younger workers, gays and lesbians and all types of races–and many other groups of workers, really. Here are some examples.
Differing consequences for similar behavior
Black workers and white workers may experience different repercussions for behaviors such as arriving late to work or being late on deadlines. An employer may give white workers more opportunities to redeem themselves, while letting black workers go after just a warning or two. This type of discrimination can be really subtle because workers often do not know about one another’s disciplinary actions.
Not hiring someone based on interview answers or social media searches
Some jobs will do a background check on the people before they hire them, they will use something like this background check in Florida. But what they cannot do is use that information against you, unless you have a criminal record for example. A background check is simple there to protect the business. Blatant discrimination in a job interview would be asking a candidate, “Do you have children? We do not hire women who are pregnant or who have children because they always want to leave early.”
On the other hand, if a job candidate happens to mention that she has children, an employer might take her off the “under consideration” list for this reason. Likewise, an employer could search the social media profiles of female candidates but not male candidates to see if they have children. This type of discrimination can be subtle to job applicants because, obviously, they cannot read interviewers’ minds, and interviewers can keep a straight face when a candidate volunteers undesired information.
All types of personal information may fall into this category: pregnancy status, the religion you practice and the gender of the person you are married to, for example.
Promoting a certain type of person
A company may strive for inclusiveness but be proactive only on a lower level (entry-level employees, perhaps). If a company’s management tier looks overwhelmingly male and white despite the lower echelons being diverse, subtle discrimination may be at play. The managers may not even realize that they are subconsciously overlooking qualified candidates for promotion.
