Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump labeled
President Obama “Kenyan” and claimed he was born outside the US, and has also
tweeted a picture of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary
Clinton with the text “Corrupt” and a red (not yellow) David’s star. What does
that have to do with the title of this blog? Well, people’s perceptions are
colored by associations, and many have negative views of Africans (and African
Americans) and Jews. And Asians (and Asian Americans).
So how to get a job if you belong to any group that is
subject to discrimination? Discrimination is well known, and both individual
students and university career service employees know the answer. A resume can
be “whitened” by removing signs such as a distinctive African American or Asian
name, and by removing work experience or volunteering naming (or even entire
activities) that gives out racial signs. I know people who have done it. It is
disturbing both to them and to their friends, not least because any kind of
resume tampering has ethical implications, and the idea that one can improve
the odds of getting a job by removing mention of volunteer work is so obviously
wrong, even if it is correct.
In a paper forthcoming in Administrative Science Quarterly,
Kang, DeCelles, Tilcsik, and Jun examine both how and why people whiten
resumes, and the effects it has. Let me start with the most shocking finding.
Not only does whitening work, by giving higher likelihood of a callback (we
knew this from prior research), but it works equally well for firms that signal
a commitment to diversity. So, firms that say they value diversity are not
truthful. But, students believe them, so they will engage in less whitening of
their resumes when the employer has job listings that signal that they value a
diverse workforce. Ironically, this turns statements on the value of diversity
in job listings into a trap for job seekers, who will not whiten their resumes
and suffer discrimination.
The study also provides insight into the thinking behind
whitening through a series of in-depth interviews on how it was done, and why
students would or would not whiten resumes. First, it was clear that whitening
meant breaking a barrier: students believe in meritocracy, and value their own
identity and experience. Doing it is as unpleasant as it sounds. But still,
many (not all) students knew the risk of not getting callbacks if their resumes
were not white enough, and chose to do it. The techniques used were largely
truthful: A “white” hobby could be added, and “Black” or any Asian markers
could be removed from voluntary organization names. More radically, an Asian
student could replace the given name with a chosen whitened one, or use both,
and an African American student could pick the least black-sounding name even
if it was a middle name not normally used.
The findings are remarkable and discouraging because they are
from the USA, which is one of the most diverse and meritocratic job markets in
the world. One might hope that time will work against the discrimination that
gives a need to whiten, but then again, political and social signals are
currently not encouraging.
