Beneath the Wires: E-services equality

Are e-services to different ethnic groups equal? Although extensive research has been conducted on racial and ethnic bias, little research has been conducted on discrimination in the online setting. Title II of the Civil Rights Act states that service providers should not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, or national origin, yet it is possible that e-services are biased. Providing services to diverse user groups over the internet may increase, eliminate, or decrease such bias. This experimental study examines virtual reference services to determine whether services are equal. E-services received queries that differed only by the user’s name; these names represent to most Americans a specific ethnic group. Findings indicate lower quality of e-services provided to Arabs and African-Americans compared with Caucasian users. This study adds to the knowledge base of subjective bias in virtual environments.