A Field Experiment On Labor Market Discrimination

Dr. Marianne Bertrand, an economics professor, testified that some corporate recruiters can identify a person’s race based on his or her name. Bertrand’s study compared job applicants with Caucasian names, such as Sarah, versus applicants with African-American names such as Lakisha.

Have you ever felt like you were denied a job based on your abilities or race? Such might be possible, but Firoozeh experienced a whole different form of prejudice. She was denied jobs not because of her lack of education, which consists of graduating with honors from UC Berkeley with a humanities major, rather, she was denied because of her name. Though many places claim to be an equal opportunity employer, that is not always true, but being defined by your name, rather than your skills or education is just ignorant. Firoozeh is reluctant to believe it is a coincidence, but as soon as she began filling out applications with her “American” name, Julie, all of a sudden she began to receive a flood of job offers. That was more than coincidence, that was discrimination.

An excellent example of this is a study conducted in 2003 by Harvard economics professor Sendhil Mullainathan and Marianne Bertrand, an economist at the University of Chicago. As a part of their study they sent out thousands of résumés to employers with job openings. The résumés were statistically identical, but they used stereotypical African-American names on some and stereotypically white names on others. The résumé with a “white” name was roughly 50% more likely to result in a callback for an interview. These discrepancies, because the résumés were nearly identical, can only be attributed to the names. Startling results like these were found in other areas as well. When asked to make judgements about two patient’s heart procedure, one clack and one white, doctors gave different recommendations for treatment. Most doctors were much less likely to recommend a helpful cardiac procedure, catheterization, to black patients that whites. Furthermore, when whites and blacks were sent to bargain for a used car, blacks were offered initial prices roughly $700 higher. Even when selling an iPod online where the photos had white hands in some and African-American hands in others, the phone with the white had received 21 percent more offers than the black

When returning back to Wanzek’s after layoff I had noticed in my paycheck I had lost $2 an hour in pay when I had received a $2 raise and a gift certificate before layoff. I did report the loss of wage to Tina Harrison in Human Resources and she would e-mail Phyllis at Headquarters. Anthony Butler has

Blacks and whites have different experiences throughout their lifespan. When it comes to job hiring process, it is even harder for blacks because of their names. Previous studies have found that black names are viewed negatively by others (Busse and Seraydarian, 1977). “There are large disparities between Blacks and Whites in the United States on many indicators of social and economic welfare including

“Privilege, in its root meaning, pertains to a law--in this case often silent and unseen--that works for or against individuals and groups” (Maher, Tetreault, 2009). In the United States, racial privilege effectively impacts people, especially young adults, in search of jobs. Rather than getting hired because of their knowledge, skills, and/or abilities, some employers are making decisions based on people’s names. In a Marquette University study, researchers found evidence that suggested that “people with

In December of 2007, the United States entered a recession that was ignited by the global financial crisis. A recession is a period of decline in economic activity. The Great Recession, as Americans referred to the recession of 2007, was the longest recession since the Great Depression (Homan & Matthews , 2008). With inflation occurring and the housing market in shambles, Americans struggled to live during this horrific period in U.S. history. Millions of Americans are out of work, and U.S. companies are hesitant to hire employees. Lawmakers change financial policies to provide recovery to the country. The financial bailout is used to aid banks and states to build infrastructure. The Federal Reserve is printing money at an all-time high

Racial inequality in workplaces is when some employees are not treated equally because of their race or skin tone. Racial inequality at work can also be when employers are only hiring some types persons based on their skin or race. This can also be when employers are hiring or calling back based on the person’s name. The things is that sometimes names can predict someone's ethnicity or race. There have been studies that tried to see if some employers really call back or hire people based on the names. Bertrand and Mullainathan (2004) was a study that found that in initials review of resumes, applicants already had a disadvantage if their last names suggested that they were black (Settles, Buchanan, Yap, 2010). The researchers sent resumes to jobs that they are really likely to get in because of the qualifications (Settles, Buchanan, Yap, 2010). The findings were that the names that sounded like a white person’s name was 50% more like to get a call back than a black person (Settles, Buchanan, Yap, 2010). The researcher manipulated the resumes to a really high quality, and the name that sounded like a white person’s name was 30% more likely to get a callback than the black person (Settles, Buchanan, Yap,

Racism is something that is taught and passed down from generation to generation. If slave owners always thought of African Americans as property and that they are inferior, then their ancestors would only be taught the same thing. It is hard to break generational teachings if someone is taught it. For example, if their parents taught them that all African Americans are dangerous then they will grow up believing that we are dangerous. If you take a look at members of the Ku Klux Klan a lot of the members are generational members that have been taught that white people are inferior and no other race is as great as they are. In actuality, everyone is created even. According to Slavery in America (2009), “slave owners sought to make their slaves completely dependent on them, and a system of restrictive codes governed life among slaves” (2009). Also,

It is easy to see that Black people are constantly bombarded by inequality in the work force. If there were inequalities just based on names of applicants just imagine the inequality when employers actually see the race of the applicants.

As far as the Civil Rights Acts go, there have been improvements, but there is still a lot of discrimination and economic inequality among minorities in the United States. The Civil Rights Acts were set out to rid discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or nationality. There still remains a lot of discrimination based on these things. In the study, “Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?” they were acquiring proof of the inequality in America. Their studies showed that there is pre-emptive judgment against certain types of people when it comes to employing people. Someone can be exactly like someone else as far as college careers and work experience go, but depending on that they look like or what their names suggest, they may or may not have an opportunity to get a certain job. Based on the findings of the authors, they found that the results indicated, “for two identical individuals engaging in an identical job search, the one with an African-American name would receive fewer interviews” (The American Economic Review, 1006). If the United States was truly equal with respect to giving job positions, employers

Discrimination is nothing new to our society or is it something that should be taken lightly and for many decades our Nation has endured many conflicts that have tested the will of Americans over the decades and it is evident that as we have become more diverse so too has our workforce. Although, we are in the twenty first century the goal is to understand why prejudice and discrimination is still so prevalent and how we can do better while trying to bring together our different backgrounds, skills, and experiences still has proven to be an issue that minorities are constantly fighting as they struggle to find there place in society. Through an array of well-educated researchers showing how diversity is nothing new to our society, but if we are to continue to grow and move forward we must be able to understand that with diversification we can foster a strong and inclusive economy that is built to last and nurture a nation that will continue to lead the world as standard setter.

Minorities have a higher rate of unemployment than whites in America. Black unemployment in America rose “from 15.3 to 15.5 percent“ in March 2011, while only “7.9 percent of white workers were jobless” (Ross). The factors causing this lack of employment among minorities are explained as having to deal with education, age, ethnic-sounding names on job applications,

Racism is the belief that one race is superior to another. Discrimination has been going on for generations among generations. Many years ago people of different races were divided from each other. Public places were segregated, colored people had to use specific water fountains, schools were segregated, and blacks had to sit at the back of the buses. If they were to disobey, then there would be consequences and repercussions. Equality was a figment of imagination, a dream the minority groups had. Throughout the years racism has decreased and many things pertaining to racism were made illegal, but that doesn’t mean racism disappeared. If people were to resume racist behaviors, that can lead the world back to the days of inequality.

Discrimination comes in many forms. Discrimination and diversity are closely linked considering the reasons behind discrimination are what makes up the definition of diversity. Not only is discrimination made against gender, race, and religion, but it is also made of age, disabilities, appearance and in a lot of cases, women who are pregnant too. This is very much a reality for many employers. There are laws protecting acts of discrimination. This topic is so sensitive, that many employers implement diversity and discrimination into their mission statements. Many companies make it their practice to host training sessions to prevent discrimination from happening, then there are many companies who can’t afford such training for their