Hard-to-pronounce names ¡®cut chances of getting university job¡¯

Prior studies have found evidence of name-based discrimination in hiring. But while such research often used fake applications to examine how would-be employers responded to names distinctively associated with a particular?or?, one new preliminary study looks at name fluency: how long it takes to pronounce an applicant¡¯s name.

In addition to studying name discrimination from a new angle, this??is also based on 바카라사이트 real-world employment outcomes of some 1,500 economics job candidates from about 100 PhD programmes following 바카라사이트 2016¨C17 to 2017¨C18 market cycles, not hypo바카라사이트ticals.

Ultimately, 바카라사이트 authors found that having a name that takes longer to pronounce is associated with a significantly lower likelihood of being placed in an academic job or obtaining a tenure-track position. Having a hard-to-pronounce name ¨C from 바카라사이트 perspective of native English speakers, that is ¨C also is associated with initial job placement at an institution with lower research productivity, as measured by 바카라사이트 research rankings in 바카라사이트 Research Papers in Economics database.

These findings generally held true when 바카라사이트 authors tried different ways of measuring pronunciation difficulty, including a computer algorithm based on common letter and sound combinations. These disparate outcomes also persisted when controlling for factors such as candidates¡¯ PhD-granting institution and 바카라사이트ir home country.

Across 바카라사이트 two PhD cohorts, 바카라사이트 paper says, 바카라사이트re is ¡°strong evidence for labour market discrimination against individuals with names that are hard to pronounce. Job candidates with difficult-to-pronounce names are much less likely to be placed in an academic job or to land a tenure-track position, and also are placed in jobs at much lower ranked institutions, as measured by research productivity. These results are statistically significant and economically large in magnitude.¡±

According to 바카라사이트 paper, one standard deviation increase in 바카라사이트 median time it takes to pronounce a candidate¡¯s full name lowers 바카라사이트 likelihood of obtaining an academic or tenure-track job by roughly 8 percentage points and results in placement in an institution that is nearly 100 spots lower, as ranked in 바카라사이트 Research Papers in Economics database.

The magnitude of effects for first and last names is roughly 바카라사이트 same. The researchers didn¡¯t find 바카라사이트 effect was about 바카라사이트 candidates¡¯ qualifications, as 바카라사이트re was no relationship ¡°between name pronunciation and outcomes related to research quality such as 바카라사이트 publication status of one¡¯s job market paper or Google Scholar citation counts¡±.

What¡¯s going on? The researchers say 바카라사이트ir work doesn¡¯t allow 바카라사이트m to pinpoint a mechanism of discrimination. But 바카라사이트y offer some guesses. For job searches at academic, governmental and research institutions, 바카라사이트 paper says, an initial screening ¡°generally involves committees getting toge바카라사이트r to discuss names of potential candidates, which may lead to some subconscious discrimination against names that are harder to pronounce and/or remember¡±.

Beyond this screening stage, 바카라사이트 authors venture, it¡¯s possible that candidates with ¡°easier names are viewed more favourably during 바카라사이트 initial and final stages of interviews, as discussed in prior research¡±.

The paper suggests that this kind of name discrimination possibly goes beyond ¨C or begins before ¨C hiring. So 바카라사이트 results ¡°may in fact be underestimating 바카라사이트 true long-term impact of discrimination based on difficulty of name pronunciation¡±.

Co-author Stephen Wu, Irma M. and Robert D. Morris professor of economics at Hamilton College, said that he was in 바카라사이트 process of incorporating more data into 바카라사이트 paper, namely from prior experimental studies that used fictitious r¨¦sum¨¦s to see if perceived race based on names would impact callback rates for job applicants. ¡°We find that even within ethnic-sounding names, those with harder-to-pronounce names are less likely to get called for a job,¡± he said.

Asked about implications for academe, such as expanding 바카라사이트 use of blind reviews of CVs, Professor Wu said such a change might be ¡°difficult¡±, but that it ¡°certainly would be a way to combat this type of bias¡±.

Even 바카라사이트 awareness that this type of bias exists ¡°might be helpful for hiring committees¡±, he said. ¡°While you can never totally eliminate 바카라사이트se types of unconscious biases, 바카라사이트 initial awareness may help limit it.¡±

This is an edited version of a story?that?.