In Year Of Our Lord 2024, White-Sounding Names *Still* More Likely To Get Called Back For Job Interviews
Nine percent more likely, on average. But that's down from 50!
For the past several years, we have heard the endless sobbing of white conservatives who have convinced themselves that they are now living in a DEI world where white, Christian, cisgender men are the biggest victims of discrimination — when it’s just a fact that they would come out on top if it were a real meritocracy. Because it’s not that they’re racist or sexist, no! It’s that they want to live in a real meritocracy where the best person for the job gets the job every time, just like in the good old days when — by sheer coincidence only — the best person for the job was usually a white man.
And the fact is, they’re right. We don’t live in a meritocracy … and they’re the ones who benefit.
Now, I know what you’re thinking here. You are thinking “How can that be in this woke liberal paradise that we so obviously live in now?!?”
But it’s true!
Remember that very famous study from 20 years ago, in which researchers submitted practically identical resumés to various want-ads — with the only difference being that the names attached were either especially Black-sounding names or especially white sounding names? Well, it was replicated again and once again researchers found that those with white-sounding names were more likely to be hired than those with Black-sounding names. An average of nine percent higher, across the board.
The study was initially conducted in 2021, but the research team has published a new paper in which they name the companies applied to, in order to draw more conclusions about discriminatory hiring practices.
Via NPR:
Much of a company's bias in hiring could be explained by its industry, the study found. Auto dealers and retailers of car parts were the least likely to call back Black applicants, with Genuine Auto Parts (which distributes NAPA products) and the used car retailer AutoNation scoring the worst on the study's "discrimination report card."
"We are always evaluating our practices to ensure inclusivity and break down barriers, and we will continue to do so," Heather Ross, vice president of strategic communications at Genuine Parts Company, said in an email.
AutoNation did not reply to a request for comment.
I’m not really sure how the discrimination can be “explained” by “car/auto parts industry,” just more prevalent there. While other car-related businesses didn’t do great, Genuine Auto Parts and AutoNation were 25 and 23 percent more likely to call back white applicants than Black applicants. AutoZone was 10 percent more likely, which is still bad but about average in the study.
The companies that performed best in the analysis included Charter/Spectrum, Dr. Pepper, Kroger and Avis-Budget.
Dr. Pepper is a vile substance that no human should ever ingest on purpose, including in Lip Smacker form, but it’s nice that they’re not bigots!
This is not to say that things have not improved since 2004. At that time, firms were an average of 50 percent more likely to call in the people with white-sounding names in for a job interview — meaning that while white people only had to send out an average of 10 resumés before they got a call, Black people had to send out 15.
Also, while the original study found that
Federal contractors, who are thought to be more severely constrained by affirmative action laws, do not treat the African-American resumes more preferentially; neither do larger employers or employers who explicitly state that they are “Equal Opportunity Employers.”
The more recent study found that this is no longer the case. Via NPR:
Federal contractors and more profitable companies called back applicants from the two racial groups at more similar rates. Firms with more centralized human resources departments and policies also exhibited less racial bias, which Kline says may indicate that a standardized hiring workflow involving multiple employees could help reduce discrimination.
All improvement is welcome, at least by us. Probably not so much by raging bigots.
Still, even with those improvements it’s clear that white people still have a pretty significant advantage when it comes to being called in for interviews, which we can assume also gives them a significant advantage when it comes to being hired.
Given this information, I think that white conservatives either need to explain why a nine percent advantage just isn’t enough of a handicap for them, or they need to shut up forever about “reverse discrimination.” I vote the latter!
PREVIOUSLY:
>> Dr. Pepper is a vile substance that no human should ever ingest on purpose, including in Lip Smacker form, but it’s nice that they’re not bigots! <<
So very, very Robyn.
I remember when orchestras were accused of various forms of bias, and met those accusations quite defensively, but -surprise! - when they started doing “blind” auditions with the musicians behind a curtain, the make-up of said orchestras sure started looking different (for instance, many more women in the brass sections!).
We need to grow up, explore how our culture’s biases have infected our minds and root out those biases, rather than protest too much about meritocracy.