> But people's names do in fact reflect the level of education of their families, and in an extreme case they can choose a new name if they want.
Good point -- I hadn't thought of that. But wouldn't the resume reflect the actual education of the applicant? Maybe the discrimination against names you describe is cultural, which could also be of interest in the tech world ("this guy wouldn't fit in with us").
I did see a study on the success rates of people that had changed their names to be less "ethnic," and it was high, but of course there's a self-selection problem, since someone would have to be a very motivated person to change their name to get ahead.
One disadvantage of using pictures is that it makes race immediately apparent, and people might deliberately change their behavior to not appear racist. Maybe they offer an interview to the black candidate to check off a box on the HR form, even if they'd never hire him/her.
Anyway, just some thoughts -- I'd love to see the results of the study here on HN if you manage to pull it off!
thanks! oooh, excellent point about deliberately changing behvaior to offer interviews (which can be patronizing.) Now I really, really, really, really want to see the results of my study. I am 100% putting it on my plate, this should be doable. I've got this :)
Good point -- I hadn't thought of that. But wouldn't the resume reflect the actual education of the applicant? Maybe the discrimination against names you describe is cultural, which could also be of interest in the tech world ("this guy wouldn't fit in with us").
I did see a study on the success rates of people that had changed their names to be less "ethnic," and it was high, but of course there's a self-selection problem, since someone would have to be a very motivated person to change their name to get ahead.
One disadvantage of using pictures is that it makes race immediately apparent, and people might deliberately change their behavior to not appear racist. Maybe they offer an interview to the black candidate to check off a box on the HR form, even if they'd never hire him/her.
Anyway, just some thoughts -- I'd love to see the results of the study here on HN if you manage to pull it off!