Running head: BLACK WOMEN’S SKIN TONE AND EMPLOYABILITY The Effect of Black Women’s Skin Tone on College Students’ Ratings of Their Employability: A Preliminary Study

This study investigated the effect of Black women’s skin-tone on employability ratings. Employability ratings were defined by three measures: personal evaluation, qualifications-for-employment, and racial discrimination. Forty Black and forty White college students participated in the study. All participants were asked to read a job description and a resume, examine a picture of a hypothetical job candidate, and rate the candidate’s employability by completing three response sheets. All participants received the same job description, resume and response sheets; half received a picture of a lightskinned woman and half received a dark-skinned picture. Men who rated the lightskinned applicant were more inclined to hire her than the men who rated the dark-skinned applicant, while women were equally inclined to hire both. Whites who rated the lightskinned applicant found her more employable than those who rated the dark-skinned one, whereas Blacks were equally inclined to hire both. Blacks, more than Whites, indicated that both applicants would experience discrimination.