Question

Suppose Gigantic Health Cooperative doesn't hire Mandy Morrison solely because she is a graduate of a particular foreign medical school, which is not known for the high quality of its graduates. Yet Mandy is actually more qualified than the average graduate of American medical schools. This is an example of:

Answer 1

Answer:

Statistical discrimination

Explanation:

Statistical discrimination is a form of discrimination that occurs when a person who is in charge of making a decision uses observable characteristics of an individual as a proxy for other unobservable characteristics that are indeed relevant. In other words, the person who makes the decision makes it based on stereotypes to fill the lack of information he/she needs.

In this example Mandy Morrison graduated from a school which is not known for the high quality of its graduates and she is not hired at Gigantic Health Cooperative. However, she is more qualified than the average graduate of American medical schools.

We can see that the person in charge of the hiring based his decision on some observable characteristics (the school she graduated from) rather than on relevant characteristics such as how qualified Mandy was for the job.

Thus, this is an example of Statistical discrimination.