The researchers selected entry-level jobs after which three sets of applications were prepared for the same position.

“The core of the correspondence method involved three identically-qualified applicants for the same job: one a Dalit, one a high caste Hindu and one a Muslim”

Dalits had an odds ratio outcome of 0.68 while Muslims had a ratio outcome of 0.35 than that of an equivalent high caste applicant. For candidates who had a ‘high caste’ name, their chances were considerably higher at an equivalent qualification.

“The only aspect of family background that was communicated in these applications was the applicant’s name, yet this was enough to generate a different pattern of responses to applications from Muslims and Dalits, compared to high caste Hindu names.”

The study noted that all applicants were highly educated and appropriately qualified who were attempting to enter the modern private sector yet even here, their caste and religious identities played a significant role in determining their chances at clearing the first stage.

The discriminatory outcomes took place in the first stage of the process while applying for employment. However, the caste and religious composition of employees in private sector enterprises in India cannot be determined as they are not legally obligated to report it.

By contrast, US law requires companies of a certain size to report the gender and racial composition of workforces to the federal government which is monitored by the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

To summarise, the study highlights favouritism shown towards UC Hindu applicants and the biases against Dalit & Muslim applicants while they seek to attain employment in the private sector enterprise sector which accounts for majority of the job opportunities in the country.

Source: Thorat, Sukhadeo, and Paul Attewell. “The Legacy of Social Exclusion: A Correspondence Study of Job Discrimination in India.” Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 42, no. 41, 2007, pp. 4141–45,

Dalit lives matter