Perceptions Of Disparate Impact As Employment Discrimination

Managers must be aware of work situations where illegal employment discrimination may be occurring.  This requires an understanding of two different types of discrimination that may be taking place: disparate treatment and disparate impact. This study was conducted to discover the extent to which college students taking a class in human resource management perceive instances of disparate treatment and disparate impact to be illegal employment discrimination, and whether or not they believe that each type of discrimination should be considered illegal discrimination. Eighty-three percent (83%) of respondents correctly identified a scenario portraying disparate treatment to be illegal discrimination, while only 37% correctly identified a scenario portraying disparate impact to be illegal discrimination. Regarding beliefs about what situations should be considered illegal discrimination, 91% believed that the disparate treatment scenario should be considered illegal discrimination, while 34% believed that the disparate impact scenario should be considered illegal discrimination. The parallels between attitudes toward affirmative action and beliefs about disparate impact as a form of discrimination are discussed. Implications for teaching managers and future managers to avoid discriminatory actions in the workplace, as well as societal implications for understanding disparate impact as a form of discrimination, are presented.