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New research on hiring bias found resumes bearing names traditionally held by blacks and Hispanics are just as likely to lead to callbacks and job interviews as those bearing white-sounding names. T h e f i n d i n g s , announced last week by the University of Mis- souri, diverge from the results of a famous study from more than a decade ago that found Lakishas and Jamals were far less likely to get job interviews than Emilys and Gregs. But study co-author Cory Koedel, an associ- ate professor of eco- nomics and public policy at the University of Missouri, cautions that it would "be crazy" to interpret the results to suggest hiring dis- crimination is a problem of the past. "People should not overreact to this study, but I think it is a data point to be considered when thinking about discrimination in the labor market today," Koedel said. The study is the first to apply the resume test to Hispanic applicants, Koedel said, but most of the attention it is getting is fixated on the black- white test. The new study, which is forthcoming in the journal Applied Eco- nomics Letters, has important differences from the research pub- lished in 2004 by Uni- versity of Chicago professor Marianne Bertrand and Sendhil Mullainathan, then at MIT and now at Har- vard. Namely, they used dif- ferent names. In the original study, Bertrand and Mul- lainathan sent nearly 5,000 resumes to 1,300 job ads they found in newspapers in Boston and Chicago from fic- tional applicants with "very white-sounding names" like Emily Walsh and Greg Baker and "very African- American sounding names" like Lakisha Washington and Jamal Jones. The names were randomly assigned to higher-quality and lower-quality resumes and submitted for a d m i n i s t r at i v e support, cleri- cal, customer service and sales openings. Search for work is on the go and getting more social, survey says The white names got 50 percent more call- backs than the black names, regardless of the industry or occupation. One of the criticisms of that study was that Lakisha and Jamal can denote socioeconomic status, and that employ- ers may have made assumptions about edu- cation and income rather than race. Hoping to capture the effect of race alone, Koedel and his co- author, Rajeev Darolia, conducted their experi- ment using surnames Hiring bias study: Resumes with black, white, Hispanic names treated the same By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz Chicago Tribune (TNS) help agency; a job below their skill level; or were unemployed. Then Pedulla submitted 2,420 resumes based on his imaginary job seek- ers, along with cover let- ters, to online ads for 1,210 real jobs. Each of the applicants had an email address and real phone number, with a voice mail account, that employers could contact if they were interested in talking with the applicant further. The call back rates varied widely based on how the imaginary job seeker had spent their last year. Pedulla said employer interest in his fictional applicants reflected what kind of signals the applicant's most recent job history sent to hiring managers, including how competent they are and how com- mitted they are to their career. Male and female appli- cants who had full-time jobs the previous year were called back 10.4 percent of the time. Those whose most recent year of employment was in a job that was below their skills level were only called back about 5 percent of the time. Male applicants who had been unemployed for a year were called back 4.2 per- cent of the time, while unemployed females were called back 7.5 per- cent of the time. The study also showed that holding a part-time position for the previous year hurt men much more than it did women. Men with a year of part- time work only were called by employers 4.8 percent of the time, about as often as employers were interested in male applicants who had worked a year in a job below their skill level. Women with part-time jobs were called back in 10.9 percent of the cases. "Men face severe penalties for part-time work histories, but women experience no penalties," Pedulla wrote in the study. There are some limits about what lessons can be taken from the experi- ment, Pedulla cautioned. It only measured the initial interest of employ- ers in his fictional job candidates, not whether the employer would hire them or what they would be paid based on their most recent job experi- ence. And he only con- ducted the study in five major cities, and doesn't know whether he would have gotten the same results in smaller labor markets. Pedulla didn't have any marketing advice for job seekers who are currently in jobs below their skill level or unemployed. "I'm not really in a position to make recom- mendations to individual workers," he said. 2 GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS • May 26, 2016 current job ... from p. 1 How to help young workers limit mistakes & A Q A. Make sure you have created a solid safety net for your team, with the support needed to effectively learn their new responsibilities. Regardless of age or experience, clarity of expectations is essential for success. Even for you, after many years in the workplace, being given a new set of responsibilities would be daunting if you didn't really know what was expected of you. But you would have the back- ground to make educated guesses, at least. Imagine how much more important this is for someone in their first professional role. Now reflect on the direction you have given your new employees. If you put yourself in their shoes, would you know how to handle the variety of situations they likely face? Do you coach them on the personalities and preferences of the people they are dealing with? How about on the politics of a sit- uation before they walk into a meeting? If you are not doing this, you are falling short on setting them up to succeed. There are also adaptations that employees need to make in the transition. If needed, coach people individually to help them become comfortable in your organization – and to help the organization become comfortable with them. But – important point – don't try to coach the individuality out of them; you will lose their loyalty (and talents) and diminish the value they bring. No one wants to work in a bland, "one size fits all" setting. Be with them in the moment as they get up and running.That may mean going to meetings with them that they will eventually be expect- ed to cover solo; you will be able to step in if they get off course and then coach right away to cement the learning. The time you spend will be well worth it.The bonus is that they will learn how to help others by being helped, and then they can provide support to the next new team members. Then have their backs. If there are dissatisfied folks in your com- pany who have been affected by errors, work through the issues and ask for their support. And never throw a team member under the bus. Your team will never trust you again! Also consider if you are asking too much, too fast. If the visibility of the roles is too high for some- one brand-new, then it may be more than coaching can over- come. It's worth looking at your job classification to see if you need to redesign some positions for a slightly more senior level. Even a year or two of work experience can make all the difference. Challenges are great, and people generally thrive on them. Just be sure you set up your challenges to make success achievable. Q. I often hire staff straight out of college. By and large, they are talented and motivated, and I am happy with them. Yet, they do make mistakes and are in fairly visible roles. How can I help mentor them to minimize mistakes and keep their errors from becoming a larger issue? By Liz Reyer Tribune News Service (TNS) Liz Reyer is a credentialed coach with more than 20 years of business experience. Her company, Reyer Coaching & Consulting, offers services for organizations of all sizes. Submit questions or comments about this column at www.deliverchange.com/coachscorner or email her at lizdeliverchange.com. A publication of Conley Media Call Center Director: Cindy Shaske 262-306-5016 cshaske@conleynet.com Account Executive: Julie Sears 262-306-5008 jsears@conleynet.com Story Coordinator: Dan Muckelbauer 262-513-2626 dmuck@conleynet.com Production: Patricia Scheel 262-513-2690 GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS Volume 18 • Number 36 May 26, 2016 To place an ad: Call us at 262-306-5008 or fax us at 262-338-5271 deadline: Noon on Wednesdays Distributed by: Conley Distribution 262-513-2646 ©2016 by Conley Media, LLC Waukesha County Independent and Locally Owned GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS is published weekly by Conley Media – Waukesha County, 801 N. Barstow St., Waukesha, WI 53186. Contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher. GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS assumes no liability for any error in copy or content. It is the advertiser's responsibility to be aware of the laws pertaining to employment advertising. Call 262-306-5008 for information. see HIRING BIAS . . . page 6

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