Can a Black-Sounding Name Hurt Your Career Prospects?

[Virtual Violet]

FROM THE CHICAGO SUN TIMES. What do you think? Although I love Afrocentric names, some of the more "interesting" invented names may hinder our kids more than help.

Job search harder with 'black' name

January 14, 2003

BY DAVE NEWBART STAFF REPORTER Advertisement



When sending out resumes, it helps if your name is Kristen or Brad.

If your name is Rasheed or Aisha, don't expect too many callbacks for interviews.

In fact, white-sounding names routinely elicit 50 percent more callbacks than black-sounding names, a new study done by a professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business found.

While resumes with better credentials resulted in 30 percent more callbacks for whites, they did not significantly help blacks, the study found.

"If you have an African-American name, it's a lot harder,'' said Marianne Bertrand, an associate professor of economics at U. of C.

Bertrand, along with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, sent about 5,000 resumes in response to 1,300 want ads in the Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune between July 2001 and last May. The jobs were in sales, administrative support, clerical and customer service at various companies.

To determine which names to use, the professors analyzed birth certificates for names distinctively used by African Americans and ones used by whites.

They sent four resumes for each posting, two high-caliber applicants and two low-caliber applicants. One high-caliber applicant and one low-caliber applicant had a black sounding name, while one high-caliber applicant and one low-caliber applicant had a white sounding name. The professors compared the callback rate for each applicant. Callbacks, for the purposes of the study, included responses by telephone, letter or e-mail.

Resumes with "white'' names had a 10.1 percent chance of getting a callback, while "black'' names had a 6.7 percent chance. In other words, whites received a callback for every 10 resumes mailed, but blacks had to send 15 to spark interest.

"This represents a difference ... that solely can be attributed to name manipulation,'' the authors wrote. "Our results so far suggest that there is a substantial amount of discrimination in the job recruiting process.''

Companies that purported to be "equal opportunity employers'' were no more likely to respond to black resumes than other businesses. The two industries where blacks received more callbacks were transportation and communications, the authors found, but Bertrand said the difference was not significant enough to show a trend.

Dorris Roberts, president of the South Side branch of the NAACP, said the study's results were "disturbing, absolutely.''

He said companies often send job postings to his office soliciting minorities, when they have selected a white candidate for the job.

Carolyn Nordstrom, president of Chicago United, which seeks to increase corporate diversity, said the study shows the need to educate those who make hiring decisions--regardless of how many minorities are on staff. "We like to believe that this has changed, but this is evidence that it hasn't,'' Nordstrom said.

The Chicago Sun-Times provided a copy of the study to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, which represents 2,600 businesses in the area, but officials declined to comment.

[cricket]

I heard about this on the radio this morning. It's just one more reason why affirmative action is needed in the professional world

[Black_Butterfly]

Not just the professional world, but in the educational world also. My name sounds nothing like an African- American name. When I applied for HBU my senior year I was accepted without interview. I came to move into my apartment on campus, and the young lady said that she was not expecting an African - American and asked for my identification. Now if that don't beat all. I was not only offended, but highly curious as to what the racial ora was of the University. Lets just say I am in the process of moving back home to SHSU.

[Dedicated1]

Maybe now people will think long and hard about the names they choose for their children! I swear I was in Wal-Mart one day and they paged an employee by the name of Tequila

[LADY_1908]

I've been in the HR field for awhile. First in corporate HR and now in the Staffing industry.

On the staffing side, I have seen highly skilled individuals passed over based on their names. I can almost see my customer's face cringe when I send some of the resumes over for consideration.

In cases where I think the applicant may be receptive, I will gently suggest that they use an initial and middle name or simply their middle name.

I will also tell you that some recruiters will not call an applicant (no matter the credentials) if they can't pronounce the name. (That goes across the board, no matter the ethnicity).

On a side note, we had a Caucasian young lady come in yesterday and when I read her application, I smiled a bit at her name (now you know I can't use the real one) was Sara Latifah Donovan.

[twilliams]

I'm not surprised in the slightest.

While I may not like it, I'm grown up enough to realize that it's the way the world works.

If I had an "afro centric" name I might even go so far as to change it so that I could level the playing field.


Theresa

[NOWorNEVER]

I too am not surprised by this. It's been going on for quite a while.
My name is very ethnic...not ghetto, mind you...just ethnic. I no longer relax my hair. If I were planning to work in mainstream or corporate America, I realize I might have trouble getting a job. It's a shame people like me have to work so much harder to find work without having to conform. Then again, some companies who are looking for diversity will call people back based on names. The corporate world is just not me and I know I'd go against the grain. Thankfully, I won't have that problem because I plan on being a teacher and later a professor in an African-American studies department so I doubt name discrimination will be a problem for me.

[DoggyStyle82]

What exactly is a "Black" name? Is it Leroy Jones? Jahiem Washington? Tanya Wilson? Vanessa Brown? Do these names connote a lack of intelligence or work ethic? Is something inherently wrong with having a name that is more commonly associated with AA's?.

We must be aware of cultural assassination and the inferiority complex/white supremacy that it engenders. If we were robbed of our names when we were brought here against our will, will we also be robbed of our uniqueness, our culture, to please the unpleasable. If white hiring managers want to eliminate you, they will do so at any point in the hiring process, be it at the resume screening level or the final interview. As President Bush has proven with his brief to the Supreme Court, the equal access barrier is far greater than a "Black" sounding name.

I'm not a fan of the homemade, scrabble word game, just came off a crack binge, ghetto names that so many of our children have but I'll be damned if I kowtow to white, institutionalized racism and saddle my child with a caucasian friendly name for the sake of looking good on a resume or the patronizing approval of a hidden bigot. No Sheneneh, no Heather, no LaQuita, no Meaghan...

[atlnupe1911]

Sad but true.

[strobelitehoney]

Originally posted by Dedicated1
Maybe now people will think long and hard about the names they choose for their children! I swear I was in Wal-Mart one day and they paged an employee by the name of Tequila

It's not so much as people will think longer and harder about the names that they chose. For me in general, Most of the educated AA's that I know that have children have, white sounding names, example, lauren, meagan, Christian, Leann etc..

Now my friends who only have a high school education(and are not goal oriented, and take life as it is thrown to them), they are the ones that have given their children the ridiculous sounding names. I have no choice but to shake my head and laugh,sometimes I am embarrassed for them, because I feel like, The NAME is what can at least, get their foot in the door. It's bad enough sometimes we don't even stand/GET a chance, AND NOW, before they can even get a good start, those children are already being discriminated by their NAME.

Name discrimination is not new to me, that was something I always thought about in HIGH SCHOOL. TO me, this article is just a way of letting us know that we are slacking. HONESTLY, this is really nothing new, it's been going on for years, I think the media, just finally thought about letting us in on something they thought was a secret

I'm just proud to say that my child's name, is already mistaken as a non African American name. At least I know, (and I planned it right), she'll atleast get call or be considered, (if the decision were to be based on name sake). My momma would've slapped me into the middle of the next year had I named my child bonquisha renee, or some alcohol beverage. Hell I couldn't even live with myself if I did.

[IvySpice]

I bet that the prejudice revealed by this study would apply to girly-sounding names across the board.

A lot of white parents, as well as black, are giving their daughters froufrou names that I think are going to hold those young women back in the long run. It is always difficult for women to be taken seriously in male-dominated fields; why make it even harder on your daughter? Have you ever met a brain surgeon or physics professor named Brandee or Tyffani? Of course, some individuals are so motivated and talented that nothing can hold them back...but I honestly don't think it's a coincidence that our two female Supreme Court justices are named Ruth and Sandra.

Ivy

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally posted by IvySpice
I bet that the prejudice revealed by this study would apply to girly-sounding names across the board.

A lot of white parents, as well as black, are giving their daughters froufrou names that I think are going to hold those young women back in the long run. It is always difficult for women to be taken seriously in male-dominated fields; why make it even harder on your daughter? Have you ever met a brain surgeon or physics professor named Brandee or Tyffani? Of course, some individuals are so motivated and talented that nothing can hold them back...but I honestly don't think it's a coincidence that our two female Supreme Court justices are named Ruth and Sandra.

Ivy

See, I disagree. Brandi or Tiffanie are not froufrou names, especially since there are quite a few successful women with those names.

Froufrou names that come to mind are (and I have actually reaad, met, or heard these names):

Princess
Buffy
Muffin

On another note....

People should be mindful that names, whether so-called "black names" or otherwise should be chosen carefully and with great thought. A person's name in a sense gives them meaning and identifies who they are.

There is nothing wrong with giving a child the name Latifah or Biko, just like its ok to name your child Christian or Rebecca.

There is however a problem naming your child after an alcoholic beverage though......I can't get with that.

[IvySpice]

There is however a problem naming your child after an alcoholic beverage though......I can't get with that.

Well, we agree about that. A white Harvard student I know of accidentally got pregnant before her sophomore year and named her daughter Bailey because too much Bailey's Irish Cream led to the surprise conception. You would think she wouldn't be proud of that, but she told it to a national magazine in an interview. (She became famous because she had an interstate custody battle over her child.)

Ivy

[BabyBlue91]

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974

There is however a problem naming your child after an alcoholic beverage though......I can't get with that.

Sho' nuff!! Our HR department hollered after a woman here named her daughter Alize last year. I have a cousin who named her first daughter TaKeela (tequila spelled phonetically).

[Rain Man]

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974


There is however a problem naming your child after an alcoholic beverage though......I can't get with that.

How is then, that one of the most popular White House news correspondence reporters is named COKIE Roberts.

Granted, that is not her birth name (her full name comprises of SIX different names), but how can you be the daughter of two prominent Congresspeople and have a "stage name" after a freaking drug??!! When I first heard that name, I was like, What the Heck? I thought she was Tony Montana's long-lost daugher, or something like that.

On another note, I have noticed that quite a few so-called Black names are being adopted by White girls, so knowing a race based on the name will probably fade before too long.

I went to high school with a white Jerishia, and afterwards knew a white Tanisha and Keisha. Go figure.