Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Field experiments have become the de facto way to examine the existence and mechanisms of discrimination. However, these experiments may sometimes give a false sense of reality when only examining a specific slice of the social world. In particular, researchers use correspondence audit studies to apply for jobs in a manner that does not fully capture the true process experienced by most jobs seekers. In this paper, I begin to examine how networking between previously unconnected individuals might influence this process. I conduct a survey experiment in which college-educated respondents are presented with a brief email from an unknown contact asking for advice about getting a job at the respondent’s place of work. I vary the race of that contact as well as their educational credential. I examine whether a simple alumni connection – having graduated from the same college – influences a respondent’s likelihood to respond and assistance an individual as well as their views of the individual’s intelligence, determination, and other characteristics. Moreover, I examine how race of the respondent and the individual asking for advice influences this process.