Study Finds North Americans Prefer White Males Over Females, Minorities

July 20, 2009 6:23 p.m. EST

Vancouver, Canada (AHN) - A study made by University of British Columbia professor Karl Aquino showed North Americans have a higher preference for white males over females and minorities.

The study, held in the U.S. on anonymous feedback of residents, will be published in the Academy of Management. The feedbacks were gathered at a health maintenance organization, bookstore and golf club.

In the HMO the survey compared feedback by 12,000 patients on 113 doctors. In the bookstore, customers assessed sales clerks and in the 66 golf clubs, the survey got the response of 3,600 golfers on club service employees.

Aquino, a professor at UBC's Sauder School of Business and co-author of the study, said in a statement, "Anonymous feedback, if surveys are not constructed carefully, is often more about consumers' subjective biases than any objective assessment of employee performance."

He said the study not only placed a question mark on the accuracy of the results of surveys based on anonymous feedback format, but also explains the reason behind the 25 percent less income made by women and minorities compared to white males for the same type of job.

Aquino added, "This has real consequences for women and minority employees whose pay or advancement opportunities are tied to anonymous customer satisfaction surveys?.At the same time, employers may not be rewarding the best employees, but only those who are most appealing to customers."

Aside from UBC researchers, Aquino collaborated with research teams from the University of Wisconsin-Milwauke, University of Michigan, University of Washington and the U.S. Military Academy in West Point.