Sydney, June 19: In Australia, job seekers with ethnic names find it much harder to get a job than those with Anglo-Saxon names, according to a new academic study into job discrimination.
“Job applicants find it easier to get an interview if they have an Anglo-Saxon name,” concluded the experiment study conducted by the Australian National University.
Researchers sent 4000 fake resumes using Chinese, Middle Eastern, Italian, indigenous and Anglo-Saxon ethnically distinct names, responding to online jobs ads in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
“By varying the names on the CVs, we were able to estimate precisely the extent of hiring discrimination,” says economist Andrew Leigh, one of the study authors.
The study found employers much more likely to offer a job interview to applicants with Anglo Saxon names than those with foreign names or names referring to ethnic minorities.
“Because all other characteristics are held constant, we can be sure that we are really measuring discrimination.”
The results showed a Chinese and a Middle Eastern must submit 68 and 64 percent more applications than an applicant with an Anglo-Saxon name to get the same number of interviews.
International reports have warned that racism is rife in all walks of life in Australia, a country where one quarter of the population was born overseas.
A hard-hitting report by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission in 2007 found that racism became a part of all Australia’s major sports and was “prevalent” among professionals, coaches, spectators and fans.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said in its 2005 that acts and incitement of racial hatred exists in most Australian States.
Sorry Ali, Hi Hannah
The study cited the story of Ragda Ali as a clear case of employers’ prejudice.
“I applied for many junior positions where no experience in sales was needed even though I had worked for two years as a junior sales clerk,” said the Sydney resident.
After applying for every job she can find and getting no reply, Ali suspected that her distinctively Middle Eastern name may be the problem.
“I didn’t receive any calls so I decided to legally change my name to Gabriella Hannah,” she recalled.
Expectedly, the job road for the new Ms. Hannah was much easier.
“I applied for the same jobs and got a call 30 minutes later.”
The researchers further expanded their experiment to find out whether the kind of discrimination in the job market was found in the general population.
“In one experiment, we mailed letters to several thousand households, to see whether they returned them or put them in the bin,” said Professor Leigh.
“We found that letters were slightly less likely to be returned if they were addressed to non-Anglo people.”
The study concluded that the old maxim hailing Australia for its ability to absorb new migrants into its social fabric may be nothing more than a myth.
“The Australian melting pot may not be so successful after all.”
-Agencies