Discrimination Against Black Names on Resumes

Many studies have shown that employers are more likely to offer interviews to white than to Black applicants. New research may help prepare students.

Students have difficult decisions to make about how to present themselves in employment communications. In Chapter 13 of Business Communication and Character (11e), I wrote:

Applicants have a difficult choice in deciding whether to downplay their race and other affiliations. Some students choose to do so to avoid bias—to increase their chances of getting hired when they are at a disadvantage in the selection process. Others downplay their identities for a different reason: if an employer does want to increase diversity, they don’t want to be hired to “fill that quota.”

I reference an Administrative Science Quarterly article. This new research identifies companies by name, with some companies, for example, Kohl’s, Lowe’s, and Hilton, not discriminating, but AutoNation and GPC coming out at the bottom. This study also tested age and LGBTQ status and found low penalties for those over 40 and applicants with Black names who mentioned affiliations with LGBTQ groups, although the penalty was larger for applicants with white-sounding names.

The resumes in this study seem to be for lower, service-level jobs. It would be interesting to evaluate the effect for professional- and management-level jobs for which our students might apply. I’m cautious about assuming the same results.