Ethnic women changing their names in bid to find job

Close to a quarter of professional British women with an “ethnic” sounding name have changed their moniker on job applications in a bid to cement employment, a new study has shown.

The study from ‘name-blind’ headhunting platform Nottx.com found that the incidence of name-changing among professional men was lower than women at one-tenth, with nearly four-fifths of women reporting they felt both their gender and ethnicity were barriers to employment.

“There is an insidious culture of unconscious bias in the corporate world against professionals who are either female, an ethnic minority or both,” Biju Menon, Founder of Nottx.com told Recruitment Grapevine.  

“Our study shows that unconscious bias affects every part of the recruitment industry, from external recruiters to in-house HR teams. It isn't a case that recruiters have a serious prejudice against people from an ethnic background or female candidates, but they may unconsciously believe a male candidate or one with a "white-sounding" name will fare better in the hiring process.