Marianne Bertrand, an associate professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, did a study to see if having a really white name like Emily Baker, or Brendan Williams or a really Black name like Lakisha Washington or Jamal Jones affected the chances of getting hired.They found out that the authors find that applicants with white-sounding names are 50 percent more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with African-American-sounding names. Applicants with white names need to send about 10 resumes to get one callback, whereas applicants with African-American names need to send about 15 resumes to achieve the same result. (Chicago GSB)
In the tech world, men are the dominant sex in all major tech companies. Apple has 98,000 and 70% are male, in Facebook 70% out of 7,200 people are male, in Google 70% out of 48,600 are male, in Twitter 70% out of 3,300 are male, and in Yahoo 62% out 12,200 are male (The New York Times). It seems that people are basing their hiring on their sex, but that may not be the case. Maybe it just happened to be that they had the credentials they were looking for.
People end up judging people by sex and race but they don't know it because its concealed. I think that it doesn't matter if a company is mostly male, or female, just as long as they judge them by their credentials, rather than their race or sex.
Otherwise, I agree that racism is not always obvious. Sometimes, it is very small things that people don't even consciously realize, like a white-sounding name. Growing up with the image of a stay-at-home mom and a working dad, people make the assumption that women are inferior to men and they carry that subtle assumption into their adult lives, which causes their rejection of women in equal or greater positions, especially in a competitive job market in tech giants like Apple and Google.
ReplyDeleteAlso, yay, i found your blog, nice name.
You add a lot of good information from the articles that you read, but I'd like to hear more about what you actually think. (The white on black is a little hard to read. Would white or black on grey still fit with your theme?)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement on how everyone judges others but it may just be concealed. I also found your research on how having a "white" name can increase your odds of getting a job very intriguing. This is just one of the many examples on how racism is still prevalent today.
ReplyDeleteI like your statement, "I think that it doesn't matter if a company is mostly male, or female, just as long as they judge them by their credentials, rather than their race or sex." I pointed out in my blog as well that people should be judged by ability, rather than gender. Hiring the person best fit for the job, regardless if they're male or female, I feel is a very important component to any successful company (and to reduce the gender inequality issue).
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed all of the statistics you included within your response but do you think that the high amount of male representation in such companies will benefit the the company overall or will it instead, limit it? Even with people sporting high credentials in such companies, the overall lack of variety in the workforce can limit the success of the company. Each sex, gender, or race holds a different mindset than others because of a different way of life and background. Companies taking this into consideration will not only have a diverse workforce but also a greater range of involvement from its workers.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your point on the fact that racism is still present today, only in a more concealed way. I liked how you included research about race and ethnicity plays a role in whether or not a person gets hired. People shouldn't be hired on gender, race or ethnicity because everyone deserves a fair chance to put their best foot forward. Companies should not hire base on ethnicity, but rather other criteria, such as ability and skill.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you included statistical facts into your post to illustrate on how the number of men vs women in major companies now days such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter, is unbalanced, as the population of the workers there are dominantly male.I also agree with your statement that racism now days is not always straightforward, but rather subtle and through little things. Even small details such as a person's last name make an impact now in job selection, as seen in the case with José Zamora, when he simply dropped the "s" in his name to make his name sound more "white", and then received replies from the same companies he had tried applying for the week before.
ReplyDeleteI like the point that you made about how people are biased towards other but they don't realise it. I agree with this. Even if it is something minor, people always subconciously judge upon others. They may assume things about others based on their gender or race before getting to know them. It is present in everyday life and although some people may attemp to stop themselves from doing this, it still slips out. People may say that they are not racist or sexist but that it not true as like the article said, "Everyone is a little racist or sexist."
ReplyDeleteI like how you included information on the changing of applicants' names to sound more "white". Changing simply their name can make such a huge difference when applying for a job. I think that individual skills and qualities should be a factor in the hiring process. An applicant should not change things about themselves to guarantee them the position. Neither men or women should feel the need to compete with one another for the same job when both individuals are capable of getting the job done.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used research other than NYT. You included A LOT of useful information and not much of your own voice and opinion. Also, how would society know that companies aren't being racist or sexist, but are actually taking credentials into much consideration?
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