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PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name

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Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name

#53
I don't believe it. The change in response rate is far too large and in the opposite direction I would expect. It goes from "0 accept Mohammed" to "54% would accept a fellowship from Michael". I could not imagine a dumber result.

Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The post referenced: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32880510 As the comments show, the submission had other issues.

This is not the post I was referencing. It was a link to this reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/xcrv6k/i_sent_1...

[deleted]

Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name

#55

Quoted post unavailable.

I’ve had coworkers with Muslim-sounding names before and casual work conversation was about the same. It’s not like we usually sit around discussing religious doctrine.

Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name

#56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

He only changed his name, not his education history. Please don't try to justify discrimination based on color or national origin. It is, in fact, against the law.

>not his education history.

Provided that someone has actually read his educational history. It's more likely the reading has stopped at "From: Muhammad Abdullah". And I'm trying to find the likeliest explanation of the phenomenon other than the 'omnipresent racism' theory. Please don't accuse people of thought crimes without a sufficient basis.

Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name

#57
post #44
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that any different than biblical names like John or Abe?

Being names Mohammed is like being named Jesus, it is directly tied to the religion. I suspect a person named Jesus from Texas would have a hard time getting into biology research programs as well.

Jesús is a common name in Spanish (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_(name)). And what about Mary, the dude's mom?

Of all the criteria to evaluate someone by, "the label their parents gave them when they were born, which they had zero choice over" is pretty a silly one.

(edit: and more to the point, a lot of common English names tie back to conservative bible types, but it's just so commonplace we don't think twice about it... the same with the Mohammeds and Jesuses of their cultures, they only look foreign when they're in our context)

Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name

#58
"The results themselves were not surprising to me. I was more surprised to encounter harassment from researchers constantly advocating for equality, inclusion, and diversity."

If he's holding it high

He's telling a lie

  - Steely Dan
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