Do Skills Protect from Prejudice? Occupational Status and Ethnic Penalties in British Immigration Preferences

Abstract

While extensive research shows that Western publics tend to prefer high-skilled immigrants and those from White-majority nations, the relationship between skill and ethnic penalties in immigration preferences remains poorly understood. This research note seeks to clarify this relationship using a pre-registered survey experiment on a representative sample ( n = 1216) of (White) British respondents asking them to evaluate South-African visa applicants in two occupations (medical doctors and fast-food employees) whose ethnicity was randomized. Results show evidence of ethnic penalties against non-White applicants when it comes to medical doctors, but not when it comes to fast-food workers. White medical doctors (a high-status occupation) are rated more favorably than Black medical doctors, but White fast-food workers (a low-status occupation) are not rated more favorably than Black fast-food workers. This pattern is particularly pronounced among respondents who display more negative attitudes towards immigration in general. The results are consistent with a mechanism whereby ethnic bias is activated at higher skill levels.