Snapshot of the tweet since (at least for me) it seems to be private now:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220918142648/https://twitter.c...
PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
81–90 of 122 posts
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
I doubt it's so UNconscious. I know enough people that would straight up filter any muslim out from working with them.
It's also fun when you're Arab but not Muslim, and still get to deal with all the associated stereotypes...
It's also a hell lot more fun if you're Arab and atheist esp if you carry a religious name, you will be targeted all the time, and try to explain yourself and the associations that you might have with your background culture/religion.
A lot of fun, I tell you!
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 twi…
Basically only religious persons names their kids Mohammed, those who quit the religion will not put the burden of that name on their kids. I suspect the same thing about Jesus even in the Spanish world, Christianity is very popular in the Spanish world as well.
But to be fair I have met way more Muslims than I have met Christians so I am not as sure about it, but Mohammed is for sure a religious name meaning they had religious parents.
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 valid and common name for Hispanic males and I don't see how this would disqualify them from being considered for these positions.
It wouldn't disqualify the person, but since everyone in research has way more applications than they have positions they just select those who are statistically less likely to clash culturally.
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Jesús is a valid and common name for Hispanic males and I don't see how this would disqualify them from being considered for these positions.
It wouldn't disqualify the person, but since everyone in research has way more applications than they have positions they just select those who are statistically less likely to clash culturally.
This is plain old favoritism and should be countered not celebrated, condoned or dealt with in a business as usual manner.
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
It wouldn't disqualify the person, but since everyone in research has way more applications than they have positions they just select those who are statistically less likely to clash culturally.
This is plain old favoritism and should be countered not celebrated, condoned or dealt with in a business as usual manner.
Nowhere did I say that this behaviour should be "celebrated, condoned or dealt with in a business as usual manner".
Explaining why racism and bias can be rational doesn't mean that I condone racism or bias. Its similar to how companies avoid women who are around 30 because they are likely to get pregnant, that is rational but still isn't something we should celebrate or condone.
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 twi…
Basically only religious persons names their kids Mohammed, those who quit the religion will not put the burden of that name on their kids. I suspect the same thing about Jesus even in the Spanish world, Christianity is very popular in the Spanish world as well. But to be fair I have met way more Muslims than I have met Christians so I am not as sure about it, but Mohammed is for sure a religious name meaning they ha…
Let's assume that's true (that some "religious" names are more religious than others). All that really tells you is that such a such person was given the name by a religious parent, or from a culture where religiosity is the norm. It doesn't tell you about that person's own religiosity, whether they had to struggle with it growing up, how much of it they wanted to keep when they started school or work in the West, how their views might have changed after several years/decades of that, how much they hated their parents for naming them Mohammed...
Or how well they work with people from different religious backgrounds because they know what it's like to be discriminated against at a glance, or how they avoid religious political and religious discussions at work because it triggers WASP-y types when all they really want to do is escape oppression in their home country and feed their family without bothering anyone, or maybe, you know, they're just reasonable enough to understand that religions are deeply personal and subjective things that no two large groups of people will ever entirely agree on anywhere, and so choose to show tolerance even where there are disagreements.
For sure there are evil wife-beating, woman-hating Muslims out there... just the same way there are evil wife-beating, woman-hating Christians out there. And maybe some sects of Islam haven't had the same humanist interventions that modern western Protestants have seen, the same way there are conservative Jewish or Buddhist sects just the same as there are gay-loving, trans-affirming Catholic sects. The point is, you can't really know all of that just by looking at someone's given name. They didn't earn it, they didn't choose it, they may or may not have lived up their parents' expectations of it.
It's one thing if you look at their CV and see they went to a theology school and all their previous employers were religious institutions. It's another thing to just assume ahead of time that this person is different -- and not only different, but inherently incompatible (even unredeemable) -- just because of their name. Give people a chance, man...
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/xcrv6k/i_sent_1...
It's a little suspect that this reddit post from 5 days ago is almost the same as the linked tweet, but the premise is kind of switched up. 23 hours ago from the linked Twitter: "So I did an experiment, I am looking for a postdoctoral position and decided to check to what extent racism in science could be. I took my CV and changed the name to a more western one. I'd send it out with my real name, then a few days late…
I submitted this story, but I agree the wording is very suspicious.
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 twi…
Basically only religious persons names their kids Mohammed, those who quit the religion will not put the burden of that name on their kids. I suspect the same thing about Jesus even in the Spanish world, Christianity is very popular in the Spanish world as well. But to be fair I have met way more Muslims than I have met Christians so I am not as sure about it, but Mohammed is for sure a religious name meaning they ha…
> Basically only religious persons names their kids Mohammed, those who quit the religion will not put the burden of that name on their kids.
That might hold true for first names (even though I am not entirely sure), but when it comes to last names, it is a complete crapshoot.
I changed my last name when I was 14 (entirely for unrelated reasons), but the old one I had contained a form of "Mohammed" in it. Without giving it away, I will just say that some popular MMA fighters these days have different forms of the same last name as mine used to be.
My mom's side of the family is religious, but they are eastern orthodox christian. My dad's side (from which I inherited my old last name) is entirely atheist, but it just so happened that at some point in time about 4-5 generations ago, there were ancestors on his side who were religious muslims.
And given that in my old country the last names of children are always automatically taken from the father (barring rare exceptions), it ended up propagating 4-5 generations down with no actually religious people in the loop at all. What makes it even more bizarre to people irl who know this is that my dad has that "blond hair blue eyes" look.
Re: PhD gets 5x increase in postdoc interview invitations by just changing his name
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is plain old favoritism and should be countered not celebrated, condoned or dealt with in a business as usual manner.
Nowhere did I say that this behaviour should be "celebrated, condoned or dealt with in a business as usual manner". Explaining why racism and bias can be rational doesn't mean that I condone racism or bias. Its similar to how companies avoid women who are around 30 because they are likely to get pregnant, that is rational but still isn't something we should celebrate or condone.
I didn't say that you necessarily or explicitly endorse this position but your comment unfortunately came cross as forgiving of this practice.
Also, I don't see how this behavior can be viewed as rational since we're talking about a research institution here that's supposed to be concerned with scientific excellence hiring the best regardless of their background, and not some road trip with your buddies where you get to pick and choose who will be invited to join you.
I see no rationality in this behavior at all, just outright bias and discrimination.