Mind the ad: Why qualified ethnic minority job seekers may (not) apply.

Organizations use targeted recruitment strategies to enlarge their pool of talented workers, also from demographic groups that are underrepresented in the labor market. Building on theories of symbolic attraction and meta-stereotypes, this project investigates how recruitment messages stimulate or refrain qualified job seekers from applying for jobs. Imagine a job advertisement posted by an organization that looks for flexible and reliable employees. Would ethnic minority job seekers feel attracted to this job? Because of stereotypes that people hold about others, job seekers might be mindful about what others believe about the group they identify with. Such internalized beliefs (meta-stereotypes) impact job seekers’ reactions. For instance, ethnic minority job seekers might believe others to perceive them as less flexible and reliable due to stereotypical thoughts others may have about them. These thoughts might stop one from engaging in work-related situations that trigger such meta-stereotypes. Hence, minority job seekers might not apply, which negatively affects themselves, organizations (need for talent ) and society at large (inclusion). This project aims to advance our theoretical and practical understanding of targeted recruitment and talented job seekers’ self-selection processes to better match labor demand-supply and increase diversity in the workplace.