Color Blindness and Perceptions of Racial Discrimination in the Workplace

This study examines individual color-blind attitudes and the perceptions of racial microagressions in the workplace, amongst a pool of college student.  The use of students in this case is significant, as it captures the views of the generation that is about to enter the work force.  They used measures such as percieved racial privilege, institutional discrimination, and blatant racial issues.  In the study, "participants were told that they would read a series of scenarios about White and Black interactions in the workplace and be asked for their impressions" (Offermann, pg. 1).  The results of the study showed significant differences between how racioethnic majority and minority group members percieve events int the workplace.  This discrepancy indicates just how necessary making efforts to eliminate discrimination in the workplace still is today.

Offermann, L. R., Basford, T. E., Graebner, R., Jaffer, S., De Graaf, S. B., & Kaminsky, S. E. (2014). See No Evil: Color Blindness and Perceptions of Subtle Racial Discrimination in the Workplace. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(4), 499-507. doi:10.1037/a0037237