A new study done in the UK regarding discrimination regarding people's surnames while applying for jobs should be a wake up call for those of us in denial about this sort of thing. There has been plenty of talk about this happening in France, but this time someone actually took the initiative to document the problem in the UK.
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"A government sting operation targeting hundreds of employers across Britain has uncovered widespread racial discrimination against workers with African and Asian names.
Researchers sent nearly 3,000 job applications under false identities in an attempt to discover if employers were discriminating against jobseekers with foreign names. Using names recognisably from three different communities – Nazia Mahmood, Mariam Namagembe and Alison Taylor – false identities were created with similar experience and qualifications. Every false applicant had British education and work histories.
They found that an applicant who appeared to be white would send nine applications before receiving a positive response of either an invitation to an interview or an encouraging telephone call. Minority candidates with the same qualifications and experience had to send 16 applications before receiving a similar response." London Observer
Undercover job hunters reveal huge race bias in Britain's workplaces
Civil servants created false identities to send CVs to hundreds of employers in sting to uncover discrimination
Rajeeve Syal, investigations editor
The Observer, October 18, 2009
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