This reminds me of an interesting Harvard study I read a few years ago titled 'Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal'.
It can be found here: https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/sendhil/files/are_emily_an...
Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
31–40 of 173 posts
Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#32I think I've seen many people on reddit assume I'm an urban high school kid because of my username.
stcredzero? "Urban high school kid" isn't jumping out at me. ...Actually, nothing jumps out at me at all. I'm not sure what to make of it. Why do they read high school kid out of that?
I'm guessing it stands for "street cred zero" as in having zero street credibility.
Wiktionary defines "street cred" as:
> Credibility among young, hip urban dwellers; particularly important in the hip-hop and rap scenes.
Google defines it somewhat more tersely as:
> acceptability among young black urban residents
Given that the user name says the user has no street cred, it's ironic that people would assume the user is "urban".
Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#33I suspect many companies wouldn't use this as it would make affirmative hiring policies more difficult. For example, recruiters at my company curate lists of names that are majority female, black, or Hispanic (pulled from the census bureau) in order to try and determine which candidates are diverse. Recruiters at my company aren't explicitly told to hit certain quotas, but they are given larger bonuses for diverse hi…
> For example, recruiters at my company curate lists of names that are majority female, black, or Hispanic (pulled from the census bureau) in order to try and determine which candidates are diverse.
(Implied: in order to favour them at some point in the process.)
Is that even legal?
So as an individual with a traditional Western European male name, I would be at a relative disadvantage if I applied to your company. Hmm.
Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#34I think I've seen many people on reddit assume I'm an urban high school kid because of my username.
stcredzero? "Urban high school kid" isn't jumping out at me. ...Actually, nothing jumps out at me at all. I'm not sure what to make of it. Why do they read high school kid out of that?
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Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#35I suspect many companies wouldn't use this as it would make affirmative hiring policies more difficult. For example, recruiters at my company curate lists of names that are majority female, black, or Hispanic (pulled from the census bureau) in order to try and determine which candidates are diverse. Recruiters at my company aren't explicitly told to hit certain quotas, but they are given larger bonuses for diverse hi…
> For example, recruiters at my company curate lists of names that are majority female, black, or Hispanic (pulled from the census bureau) in order to try and determine which candidates are diverse. (Implied: in order to favour them at some point in the process.) Is that even legal? So as an individual with a traditional Western European male name, I would be at a relative disadvantage if I applied to your company. H…
Yup. Pro tip, give your kid a name like "Rafael".
I trust our company's lawyers as to whether or not this is legal. Race does not directly affect hiring decisions. It only affects resume review and phone screen. So it does affect the population that get to the on-site. But functionally this doesn't seem much different than say, recruiting at an HBCU.
Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#36Given names is one of the most effective way to encode culture. We already know that individuals harbor some biases based on culture, so it's no surprise that there is some bias when people exchange names. My mother explicitly gave me a "white sounding" name when I was born and in my experience changing your name is one of the most common ways that those from other cultures try to integrate in America and minimize bi…
> in my experience changing your name is one of the most common ways that those from other cultures try to integrate in America and minimize bias.
My grandfather changed our family name (which to be fair was spelled very badly when character sets were converted). It’s funny because nobody knows what ethnicity “Comjean” is. People get confused and they are thinking about it. Adding to the confusion my parents gave me a first name from the old country.
People in moments of candor ( or from New York) have told me 1. I don’t look like my name . And 2 misguessed my country of origin often putting me into their own.
Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#37I suspect many companies wouldn't use this as it would make affirmative hiring policies more difficult. For example, recruiters at my company curate lists of names that are majority female, black, or Hispanic (pulled from the census bureau) in order to try and determine which candidates are diverse. Recruiters at my company aren't explicitly told to hit certain quotas, but they are given larger bonuses for diverse hi…
I'd hate to work somewhere knowing I was hired because the color of my skin and not my abilities. maybe less of an issue in non-brainy jobs, but in Tech I would feel more insecure not knowing if I got the job to fill a quota. This sounds rather disgusting to me.
In the case that parent commenter described, you would be invited to the interview based on your qualifications and your color, but would be hired based on your demonstrated abilities during the interviews.
Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#38I always considered something similar with my name. For example if my legal name is Ronnie should I put Ron/Ronald on professional resumes/LinkedIn? Even though that's not my real name. Or Donnie vs. Don/Donald. Tommy vs. Tom/Thomas. It just seems anything ending in "ie,y" appears less professional.
I probably would. I think the problem is that so many people associate ie/y with nicknames for kids that it biases them. I'd probably use Ron initially and then when you get to the face-to-face interview stage you can let people know that you generally go by Ronnie if they ask. HR isn't going to care what you go by online or your resume as long as the 'official' paperwork you submit is correct.
Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#39I suspect many companies wouldn't use this as it would make affirmative hiring policies more difficult. For example, recruiters at my company curate lists of names that are majority female, black, or Hispanic (pulled from the census bureau) in order to try and determine which candidates are diverse. Recruiters at my company aren't explicitly told to hit certain quotas, but they are given larger bonuses for diverse hi…
I'd hate to work somewhere knowing I was hired because the color of my skin and not my abilities. maybe less of an issue in non-brainy jobs, but in Tech I would feel more insecure not knowing if I got the job to fill a quota. This sounds rather disgusting to me.
At first I felt the same way because I may be a beneficiary of these types of policies. Who likes being a charity case? But then I realized that this is just work, and I don't really care. If it gets me closer to a comfortable retirement more quickly, so be it. Ends, means, etc.
Edit: I'm speaking about opportunities in general. The selection policy described by GP would put me at a disadvantage because I have a completely Anglo name.
Re: Can fake names create bias in interviewing?
#40I guess I don't see the point of these names? Why not just Candidate A,B,C or 1,2,3, etc.