Discrimination hurts hiring chances for those with non-Eurocentric names
COMING UP I
>>> LAWS NOW FOR BID OVER FORMS
OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON
GENDER, ETHNICITY OR AGE.
UNCONSCIOUS BIASES REMAIN.
IN TODAY'S SEGMENT WE LOOKED
INTO WHY JOB APPLICANTS WITH
ETHNIC NAMES EXPERIENCE ONE
WELL-DOCUMENTED FORM OF
DISCRIMINATION.
>> DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER YOUR
NAME IS KATIE OR KEISHA?
ACCORDING TO HARVARD UNIVERSITY
THE ANSWER IS YES.
STUDY SHOWS IF YOU HAVE A NON-
EUROCENTRIC NAME THE CHANCES OF
YOU GETTING CALLED IN FOR AN
INTERVIEW DECREASES BY 21%.
THE BUSINESS SCHOOL DIRECTOR OF
MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS
HAS SEEN IT FIRSTHAND.
>> I THINK IT'S A REAL THING
AND NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.
>> KEISHA HAS WORKED IN MANY
CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTS BEFORE
LANDING AT IN CCU.
BECAUSE HER NAME HAS DIVERSE
ROOTS SHE HAS HEARD ALL TYPES OF
SOLUTIONS TO PREVENT NAME
DISCRIMINATION.
>> HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT
CHANGING HER NAME OR MAKING AN
ACRONYM?
>> FOR KATIE THIS EXPERIENCE IS
A FIRST AFTER MARRYING A
TANZANIAN MAN SHE QUICKLY
LEARNED THE CHALLENGES OF BEING
LABELED AS OTHER.
>> AS A WHITE WOMAN I AM NOT
PARTICULARLY SUSCEPTIBLE TO
DISCRIMINATION OR ANYTHING LIKE
THAT AND UNFORTUNATELY WHITE
FOLKS DO NOT UNDERSTAND
SOMETHING UNTIL THEY EXPERIENCE
IT HIMSELF.
IN THIS CASE IT'S BEEN EYE-
OPENING.
IT GETS HURTFUL.
>> WHY DOES NAME DISSEMINATION
HAPPEN IN THE WORKPLACE?
EXPERTS SAY IT'S EMBEDDED IN
AMERICAN HISTORY.
>> BECAUSE WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY
WHERE ANTI-BLACKNESS IS
PREVALENT OR ANTI-IMMIGRATION
IS PREVALENT AND THEY ALLOW
THEMSELVES TO BELIEVE AND BUY
INTO NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES.
>> IF APPLICANTS DO NOT GET THE
INTERVIEWS THEY CANNOT IMPACT
THE CULTURE AT THE COMPANY.
INSTEAD OF JUDGING A BOOK BY
ITS COVER WILLIAMS SUGGESTED
THAT WE ASK OURSELVES THIS
QUESTION.
>> WHAT IS IN A NAME?
WHAT DOES IT MATTER?
IT'S INCONSEQUENTIAL.
>> BY DOING THAT WE CAN
ELIMINATE IMPLICIT BIAS BEFORE
IT SHOWS UP IN OUR OFFICE
BUILDINGS.
>> FOR DESCRIPTIONS OF WHAT
NAME DISCRIMINATION IS AND THE
IMPACT IT CAN HAVE ON PEOPLE OF