Philip Oreopoulos, an economics professor at UBC, says more research is needed to determine whether employers deliberately withheld interviews from candidates with non-English-sounding names. (CBC)
“A recent UBC study showed that job applicants with English-sounding names have a greater chance of getting interviews than those with Chinese, Pakistani or Indian names.
The study found Canadians and landed immigrants with names such as “Jill Wilson” or “John Martin” are 40 per cent more likely to be offered an interview than someone with a name like “Sana Khan” or “Lei Li,” given an identical resumé.
Applicants with mixed names like “Vivian Zhang” had a 20 per cent better chance to land an interview than job-seekers with non-English names, but still less than the English-only names.
“The findings suggest that a distinct foreign-sounding name may be a significant disadvantage on the job market even if you are a second- or third-generation citizen,” said Philip Oreopoulos, a professor of economics at UBC who led the research…” for the rest of the article, go to: Job applicants with foreign names have lesser chance for interviews: UBC study
It’s not entirely surprising that people with English-sounding names seem to be preferred considering that there is a perception in society that someone with an English-sounding name must automatically speak English perfectly whereas there is always a chance that English is the second language for those who do not have English-sounding names. I wonder whether this trend will continue especially since the ethnic minorities of Vancouver are growing rapidly to become the city’s majority.
