Cancer survivors may be facing a tough challenge in the workplace: evidence of discrimination.
In a new study conducted by researchers from Penn State University and Rice University, cancer survivors who disclose their illness in their resumes and interviews may receive fewer callbacks than those who may not mention anything about what they had gone through.
The research is led by Larry Martinez, Penn State University's assistant professor, as part of his graduate paper in Rice University. He worked with the university's management and psychology professor Mikki Hebl, who first thought about it.
For the study, the researchers checked out real retail jobs that are open to face-to-face interviews and found 121 retail managers, all working in large shopping centers in a metro in the South. Five people with ages from 21 to 29, including three women, then posed as applicants who either have to disclose they had cancer or avoid mentioning it. Only one participant entered every store, handing out resumes that had been designed to display their supposed retail experience and history.
The team also conducted an online survey among 87 professionals who have considerable experience in conducting interviews among applicants.
Based on the results, those who revealed they had cancer received 21% of callbacks, more than 10 points lower than those who didn't say anything about the disease (37%). Further, the online survey suggested that most cancer survivors received a high rate in warmth but not in competency.
The experiment didn't find any violation during the hiring process, but the researchers believe that people with cancer history, who tend to mention their medical history during interviews, are vulnerable to discrimination despite the protection from Americans with Disabilities Act.
Martinez said that although the overall perception on cancer survivors is positive, subtle biases do exist in the workplace with managers viewing them as less desirable employees on the merit of their cancer history. The researchers also recommended training programs to cancer survivors on how to present themselves more properly to the interviewers while reducing the risk of being discriminated.
You can read the study at Journal of Applied Psychology.