Job applicants with foreign names have lesser chance for interviews: UBC study

sweetspot · 发表于 2009-5-21 07:27

CBC News

Job applicants with English-sounding names have a greater chance of getting interviews than those with Chinese, Pakistani or Indian names, a new study by University of British Columbia researchers suggests.

The study found Canadians and landed immigrants with names such as "Jill Wilson" or "John Martin" are 40 per cent more likely to be offered an interview than someone with a name like "Sana Khan" or "Lei Li," given an identical resumé.

Applicants with mixed names like "Vivian Zhang" had a 20 per cent better chance to land an interview than job-seekers with non-English names, but still less than the English-only names.

"The findings suggest that a distinct foreign-sounding name may be a significant disadvantage on the job market even if you are a second- or third-generation citizen," said Philip Oreopoulos, a professor of economics at UBC who led the research.

Oreopoulos's working paper was released Wednesday by Metropolis British Columbia, part of an international immigration and diversity research network.

The researchers tailored 6,000 mock resumés to meet specific job requirements in 20 occupational categories and sent them last fall to 2,000 online job postings from potential employers in the Greater Toronto Area.

Each resumé listed a bachelor's degree and four to six years of experience, with name and domestic or foreign education and work experience randomly assigned.

"I was surprised to see almost as much name discrimination going on here as there was in the United States between distinct black- and white-sounding names," Oreopoulos said.

Might break laws
Name-based discrimination may contravene human rights laws, he said, although more research is needed to determine whether the employers' behaviour was intentional.

"There's certainly an element of unfairness going on that an individual with a distinct foreign name is not being given the chance to go to the next round and prove to the employer that they could be a better candidate," Oreopoulos said.

Michael Lam of SUCCESS, an immigrant advocacy group based in Vancouver, said the findings present a "strong impression that the business community is still not fully aware or understand the immigrant community."

The group's chief executive officer, Tung Chan, added that the phenomenon is nothing new.

"It's something that we hear all the time, that we see all the time," Chan said.

"Many of them feel that there is a glass ceiling that they are hitting, and it comes back to the same thing — the feeling that they belong to a different cultural group."

The study also found employers preferred Canadian work experience over Canadian education.

For resumés with foreign names and education, call backs nearly doubled when the applicant had held one previous job in Canada.

"This suggests policies that prioritize Canadian experience or help new immigrants find initial domestic work experience might significantly increase their employment chances," Oreopoulos said.

sweetspot · 发表于 2009-5-21 07:30

Dimeron wrote:I think one very important point that was mentioned in the article, but a lot of people seems to fail to grasp is, just because someone got a foreign sounding name, does not mean they are a first generation immigrant. They could very well be born or grown up here, with English/French as their first language, and culturally identical to John or Jane Smith.

Most famous (American) example, Barrack Obama.

sweetspot · 发表于 2009-5-21 07:33

SalSun wrote:Actually I think you're mistaken. It is much easier for someone with an English sounding name to get a job in most places in the world. It does not work the other way.
I have seen this name discrimination all the time, but it is always impossible to prove. I'm glad they did this study that actually proves it is happening. I just hope something will come of it. Maybe, instead of having names on resumes, we should just have our contact info. That way the employer wouldn't be able to discriminate on the basis of name or sex. Of course, once you arrive at the interview, there will still be discrimination, but at least it may help get people in the door.

sweetspot · 发表于 2009-5-21 07:35

Cana_da wrote:I work in HR in the health industry in Ontario where there is a rather large need for skilled RNs. Everday I receive many resumes from candidates that have received their BScN in another country, including Ireland, the US and of course South/East Asia. Once I see that a candidate does not have Canadian education, I immediately put that candidate in the "No" pile. I don't see this as discrimination, but rather that Canadian educated RNs have far superior skills than those who do not and I am not about to jeopardize patients' health for the sake of fairness.

I am also a female of South Asian decent. Right after I received my degree and was out looking for a job, I would put my full name, which was not hard to pronounce, but was not commonly known. I did not receive many calls for interviews. Afterwards, I shortened my name on my resume and I can honestly say that I received doublt the amount of interview calls. So although my name on my resume has never been a White English name, but since it was shorter and easier to pronounce, recruiters were more comfortable to call me for interviews.

Here is some advice for the immigrants looking for a job:
1) Shorten your name, or put a fake name on your resume (you only have to give your real name once you are hired - oh and make sure your references know what your fake or shortened name is)
2) If you don't have a Canadian education, write on your resume that a Canadian university has accredited your foreign degree - U of T usually does this
3) Get Canadian experience ASAP! Doesn't even matter if it's in your direct field, just get Canadian experience!

sweetspot · 发表于 2009-5-21 07:38

Hedgehoging wrote'I read the comments with great interests. After all, it is evident that bureaucratic discrimination is here, esp in BC and Toronto. In a country where multiculturalism is being constitutionalized as Canadian values, it seems that the truth is quite disappointing.

Whether Canadian employers like foriegn names or not, the new growing businesses are all from emerging market -- be it in Middle East or Far East. They better get adopted to hire these foreign names who can talk to these foreign countries. Begging our southern brothers to suck up more of our natural resources or outsource their auto factories will no longer keep us survives.

So wake up Canadians. The other resource giant, Australia, has lived up to the fact and already get out of their recessions. We are still in the midst of our own mid-life misery.

sweetspot · 发表于 2009-5-21 07:38

LaurieClark wrote:With all our claims of being so multi-cultural, I have found Canada, my home, to be extremely racist, especially when it comes to immigrants trying to use the University degrees we demand they have to come here!

I have lived in most 7 provinces and been in 9.

sweetspot · 发表于 2009-5-21 07:40

herbiegoes wrote:Job applicants with foreign names can adopt "western" sounding or spelling of their names on resumes (without a legal name change) in order to avoid this issue altogether. A very simple solution. This is very common practice among many of my Chinese colleagues.

My family altered the spelling of our surname when we migrated from Quebec into Ontario last century. We simply adapted to our new environment. If I moved to China, I would most likely adopt a Chinese name similiar to my current one.

Some of the blame can be attributed to our continued support of "multicultural-nothingness". Multiculturalism is simply a politicized farce exploited by our leaders pretending to foster "tolerance" when all they want is the ethnic vote. We should tolerate others as human beings, not because they we have different cultural traditions.

ALL immigrants to Canada and North America end up watching their cultures slowly recede generation after generation. The internet certainly can prolong this, but in the end, day to day interactions slowly make us more and more similiar. Naming you child in order to preserve you culture in Canada is somewhat selfish in my opinion.

Immigrant and non-immigrant parents be WARNED!
Naming you child is serious business. You may think that your choice of a "funky", "unique" , "artsy" or "ethnic" name is appropriate. Just remember your child has to carry this choice for the rest of his/her life!

Not at all surprised by this study.

小熊之家 · 发表于 2009-5-21 09:06

Good post! thanks.

billzhao · 发表于 2009-5-21 21:33

very true!
确实是这样。
建议找工作的弟弟妹妹们，名字尽量用用英文名。否则，机会真的少不少。

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