Researchers find that employers favour job applicants with English-sounding names

A team of researchers sent out thousands of resumes in response to job postings in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal and discovered that job applicants with English-sounding names were more likely to receive a callback. Philip Oreopoulos, a Scholar in the Social Interactions, Identity and Well-being program, led the study with Diane Decheif (University of Toronto). In talking with recruiters to determine what explains this behaviour, the researchers found that employers were concerned with communication skills; however they also suspect “subconscious” ethnic discrimination to be a cause. This research has potential implications on changing the way employers recruit applicants for interviews. Read more