How race influences perceptions of objectivity and hiring preferences

Objectivity norms can act as a source of mistrust of marginalized voices within organizations. In this paper, we study White evaluators' perceptions of Black applicants' objectivity and hireability in a field where objectivity is considered imperative: journalism. We predicted that Black journalists will be viewed as less objective and as having more ingroup bias regarding racial issues coverage compared to White journalists. Importantly, we expected these patterns to emerge in opposition to hiring judgments that would, overall, favor Black journalists over White journalists for roles reporting on racial issues due to perceptions of their racial expertise. Meta-analyses of three samples (N = 1725) found that White perceivers rated Black journalists as less objective and more biased, yet more racially expert and hireable, than White journalists. In follow up correlational analysis we found consistent evidence that perceptions of racial expertise positively impact hiring judgments for Black journalists even as perceptions of objectivity suppress hiring preferences. Overall, these studies illuminate the costs of racial marginalization in primarily-White workplaces, even when there are apparent hiring advantages, and demonstrate potential barriers to inclusion and accurate racial issues coverage.