Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Various academic studies have confirmed that black job seekers have a harder time than whites. A study published several years ago in The American Economic Review titled "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?" found that applicants with black-sounding names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names.
So if you were couseling a job canidate with an african american name, what you you recomend they do to fight the bias?
Various academic studies have confirmed that black job seekers have a harder time than whites. A study published several years ago in The American Economic Review titled "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?" found that applicants with black-sounding names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names.
So if you were couseling a job canidate with an african american name, what you you recomend they do to fight the bias?
First you would have to know why the "bias" is there. When a person is hiring a job applicant they are looking for the person who can bring them the most money for the least pay. It is my understanding that is why hispanics are so much wanted. They are hard workers and don't demand large salaries. That would be great for them, if they were not getting so much government assistance to let them be able to do that. But as far as an employer is concerned, that is a bargin.
First you would have to know why the "bias" is there. When a person is hiring a job applicant they are looking for the person who can bring them the most money for the least pay. It is my understanding that is why hispanics are so much wanted. They are hard workers and don't demand large salaries. That would be great for them, if they were not getting so much government assistance to let them be able to do that. But as far as an employer is concerned, that is a bargin.
It doesn't make business sense to hire more expensive workers. That's why the statistic about women making 72% of men is a myth. When experience, job demand (school teachers vs accounts) is factored in, there is hardly any difference.
Also, the government EEO people keep a really keen eye on salaries. If companies truly discriminated like alleged, they'd be sued so fast it wouldn't be funny.
Emily and Greg are also more employable than Nikolai (Russian) and Amrit (Indian) and Bao (Chinese). It is not an African American thing, it is a foreign thing. Employers tend to look at foreign-sounding names and assume they either require extensive paperwork to be eligible for hire, or may have an accent or language barrier that makes them a less effective employee.
I know quite a few people from Hong Kong and Mainland China who adopt Westernized names and use those instead. If they are concerned about their names then they could try to go by a nickname. For example, instead of using "Patrice" they could use "Pat" or "Patricia". However, when it comes to giving the employer your legal name on a document then it could become tricky. It's a shame that people still discriminate against names, though I would also argue that some employers are more likely to remember names that stand out when looking at resumes.
In Australia it is the same thing. I have known many men of a middle eastern background who are Muslim and they are known at work as "Michael" How many muslim men do you know being born "Michael"? Obviously changed from Mohammed to Michael. I think this is sad as we are judging people by name not by character! As the great Dr King once said along the lines of not judging by the colour of their skin but by the content of their charector! Unfortunatly with bigots and uneducated idiots around this will not be the case!
My husband has a perfectly white middle American sounding name and he has only been called to one interview in 100's of resumes he has sent. Does this then conclude there is a different kind of bias going on out there- maybe one against white men?
No offense to the OP, but this issue is really over beaten.
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
16,259 posts, read 24,777,470 times
Reputation: 3587
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bah! Humbug!
I think this is an interesting set of statistics:
Various academic studies have confirmed that black job seekers have a harder time than whites. A study published several years ago in The American Economic Review titled "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?" found that applicants with black-sounding names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names.
So if you were couseling a job canidate with an african american name, what you you recomend they do to fight the bias?
I have never understood why parents give their kids "the ghetto or trailer park baby name the day" (yes we have a radio station here that used to do that every morning). Why do you want to further handicap your kid? Life is already hard. Don't make it harder.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
