Foreigners need not apply

Original title: Op afkomst afgewezen

The Hague is a diverse city: it is home to people with 140 different ethnic backgrounds. The city also has a high unemployment rate, especially among young people with a non-Western background. To what extent does discrimination play a role in this?

To investigate this, fictitious applicants who differed only in their ethnic background applied for existing vacancies. The question was whether applicants with a Hindustani or Moroccan background with the same CV would have the same chance of success as native Dutch applicants. After the degree of discrimination had been determined based on equivalent applications, additions were made to the applications by candidates with Hindustani and Moroccan backgrounds. In half the cases, extra work experience and relevant courses were added, which meant that the applicants with a non-Western background were actually better qualified than Dutch natives. In the other half of cases, the job application explicitly stated that the applicant was of non-Western origin but identified themselves as Dutch and felt strongly committed to the Netherlands. These additions were intended to discover whether labour market discrimination is related mainly to associations with risk by employers, or whether it is more the perception that applicants with a non-Western background are socially and culturally very different.
The study was carried out at the request of Municipality of The Hague.

Iris Andriessen (SCP) is employed in the Education, Minorities and Methodology research sector at SCP and carries out research on discrimination against and integration of migrants in Dutch society.

Barbara van der Ent studied sociology at the University of Amsterdam. At the time of this study she was studying for a research Master’s degree in social sciences. Manu van der Linden holds a Master’s degree in Issues of Policy and Organisation (sociology) from Utrecht University. Guido Dekker holds a Master’s degree in Labour and Organisation (sociology) from the University of Amsterdam. At the time of this study, they were attached to SCP as internees.