Resume Name Discrimination
RCTReview
Job applicants with non-English ethnic names encounter substantial disadvantages during initial resume screening, receiving significantly fewer interview callbacks than applicants with English names despite identical qualifications and local experience.
Picture this
Think of sorting mail into office inbox trays. A worker skimming envelope labels quickly tosses letters with unfamiliar foreign names into a secondary review pile that requires extra effort to process, while passing English-labeled letters straight into the interview fast-track box to save time.
What the evidence says
Resumes with English names received a 15.7% callback rate compared to 11.3% for resumes with Indian, Pakistani, or Chinese names (a 4.4 percentage point reduction, p < 0.01). Resumes with Greek names experienced a similar 4.0 percentage point reduction (11.8% callback rate, p < 0.05).
- Who was studied
- N = 12,910 resumes submitted to 3,225 job postings across 20 occupation categories in Toronto and Montreal, Canada.
- How
- Randomized field experiment / resume audit study comparing interview callback rates across identical resumes varying only applicant name ethnicity (English, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Greek).
What to do
Mandate anonymized resume screening procedures that conceal applicant names and ethnic identifiers during initial candidate evaluations.
From the source
"Employer contact falls by 4.4 percentage points when switching from a Canadian resume with a common English name to one with a common Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, or even Greek name (15.7 percent to 11.3 percent, respectively)."
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