Young, Black, and Looking for a Job: A Field Study of Internships vs. Entry-Level Work

Abstract

Using data from an audit study placed during the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper presents a novel investigation of the comparative effect of race on selection for internships versus entry-level jobs. After performing a “nested” audit that held aspects of fictive resumes constant, we find differences exist in employer interest for resumes with Black fictive names compared to White fictive names in entry level jobs. However, for intern profiles, there is no difference in employer interest across Black fictive names and White fictive names. Further, we find some evidence suggesting that internships might serve as a pathway into entry-level jobs, such as those technical fields like computer science, for Black workers, while not affecting access in fields related to economics,like finance and banking. We close with a discussion of the policy implications of the study for understanding internships as pathways of mobility for early career workers.

The authors' own abstract, copied from researchsquare.com.

How to cite it

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Sterling, A., Thompson, M., & Rojas, D. (n.d.). Young, Black, and Looking for a Job: A Field Study of Internships vs. Entry-Level Work. Preprint, not yet peer-reviewed. https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-9944769/v1

Sterling, Adina, et al. "Young, Black, and Looking for a Job: A Field Study of Internships vs. Entry-Level Work." Preprint, not yet peer-reviewed, n.d., https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-9944769/v1.

@article{sterlingndyoung,
  title = {Young, Black, and Looking for a Job: A Field Study of Internships vs. Entry-Level Work},
  author = {Adina Sterling and Marissa Thompson and Devon Rojas},
  journal = {Preprint, not yet peer-reviewed},
  year = {n.d.},
  url = {https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-9944769/v1},
}

What it is

Research Square preprint using an audit study run during the COVID-19 pandemic to compare how race affects callbacks for internships versus entry-level jobs.

Topics