A recent study, published in The Leadership Quarterly, found that name discrimination is particularly pronounced in the recruitment of leadership positions in Australia, particularly if those leadership positions require customer contact.
The study, led by Mladen Adamovic from the UK’s King’s College and Andreas Leibbrandt from Victoria’s Monash University, found that applicants with ethnic names are 57 percent less likely to be considered for leadership roles and 45 percent less likely to be considered for lower job positions.
Adamovic, Leibbrandt and their research team submitted over 12,000 job applications for over 4,000 job advertisements in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane between 2018-2019.
For each application, they submitted the same resume per job, altering only the name to include one “English name” and two “non-English names” in each application.
The study found applicants with Arabic names were the most likely to face discrimination in the recruitment of leadership positions, followed by Indian, Chinese, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Greek applicants.
“It’s pretty sad and frustrating to see that discrimination is caused by just a name on an application,” Adamovic told 7News.
To counter this discrimination, some have suggested a need for employers to increase recruitment training or opt for an anonymous application process to reduce the likelihood of discrimination.
Source: 7News.
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