Sounding “Different”: The Role of Sociolinguistic Cues in Evaluating Job Candidates

• Date: 01 May 2016
• Published date: 01 May 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21675

Human Resource Management, May–June 2016, Vol. 55, No. 3. Pp. 463–477

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI:10.1002/hrm.21675

Correspondence to: Faye K. Cocchiara, Associate Professor of Management, College of Business,

Arkansas State University, P.O. Box 59, State University, AR 72467, Phone: 870.972.3430, Fax: 817.972.3833,

E-mail: fcocchiara@astate.edu

is often subjective and possibly discriminatory,

will advance to the next phase in the selection

process. As Bauer, Truxillo, Paronto, Weekley, and

Campion (2004, p. 136) assert, “. . . the initial

screening of job applicants is a critical function.”

Consequently, HR managers use a variety of appli-

cant screening tools and technologies to facilitate

this process. One of those tools is the telephone

interview.

The telephone prescreen interview is one of

the most widely used types of interviews used by

HR professionals, and is useful to gauge whether

applicant qualifications are compatible with the

position and the organization (Cossack, 2012).

In an environment characterized by budget cuts

and calls for increased efficiency, telephone inter-

views provide decision-makers with access to a

wider pool of applicants without incurring many

Introduction

Despite passage of Title VII of the 1964

Civil Rights Act prohibiting race- and

ethnicity-based employment-related

discrimination, hiring and wage dis-

parities between Whites1 and minorities

persist. While the difficulties that many minori-

ties experience in the labor market are the result

of many factors, researchers continue to advance

labor market discrimination as a possible explana-

tion (e.g., Couch & Daly, 2002; Nier & Gaertner,

2012; US Department of Labor Statistics, 2010).

At the same time, racial and ethnic minorities

and immigrants are entering the workforce in

record numbers and competing in a job market

characterized by many applicants vying for few

available positions. In this environment, only

those applicants deemed to be the “best,” which

SOUNDING “DIFFERENT”: THEROLE

OF SOCIOLINGUISTIC CUES

INEVALUATING JOB CANDIDATES

FAYE K. COCCHIARA, MYRTLE P. BELL,

AND WENDY J. CASPER

An increasingly diverse labor pool has increased the likelihood that HR recruiters

will encounter job seekers who speak with different dialects. Prior studies have

investigated the effects of applicant dialect on employment selection outcomes.

In this article, we merge this research with stereotyping, “modern racism,” and

sociolinguistics literatures to formulate propositions surrounding two ques-

tions of interest: (1) Do prospective employers categorize job applicants using

sociolinguistic cues? and (2) If so, what impact does this categorization have on

evaluations of applicant employability? We believe this research can provide sig-

nifi cant insights into HR practice as discriminatory behaviors change and adapt

to fi t social norms, particularly in employee recruitment and selection contexts.

© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords: employee recruitment, sociolinguistic cues, implicit bias, modern

racism, dialect, foreign accent