05/05/2009
Study Reveals Discrimination Against Non-Irish Names
Government research has revealed levels of strong discrimination against job applicants with non-Irish names.
The study from the Economic and Social Research Institute says job applicants with identifiably non-Irish names are less than half as likely to be called for interview as those with typical Irish names.
The research, the first of its kind to be conducted in Ireland, found a similar level of discrimination against those with an identifiably African, Asian or European (German) name.
The "groundbreaking" experiment compared the behaviour of employers faced with applications from candidates who were identical on all relevant characteristics other than their ethnic or national origin.
The research team sent pairs of matched CVs in response to 240 separate job adverts. The two fictitious applicants had equivalent qualifications, skills and experience – all gained in Ireland. The only difference was the name at the top of the CVs. Candidates with Irish names were more than twice as likely to be called to interview as those with minority names.
According to a spokesman for the ERSI, the level of discrimination was found to be consistent across the three minorities tested African, Asian, and German, and among three different occupations in lower administration, lower accountancy and retail sales. The experiment was carried out between March and October 2008. Compared with similar experiments carried out in other countries, the level of discrimination recorded for Ireland is considered to be very high.
Richard Fallon, Acting Chief Executive of the Equality Authority said: "The findings of this study don't just highlight a loss of equality of opportunity for potential non-Irish job applicants. They also point up a needless loss of business opportunity if we choose not to look to the skills behind the names on job applications.
"I hope the findings of this study will encourage us to build again on the excellent strategies already developed by Irish enterprise to capture the successes of cultural diversity in the workplace."
(DW/BMcC)
The study from the Economic and Social Research Institute says job applicants with identifiably non-Irish names are less than half as likely to be called for interview as those with typical Irish names.
The research, the first of its kind to be conducted in Ireland, found a similar level of discrimination against those with an identifiably African, Asian or European (German) name.
The "groundbreaking" experiment compared the behaviour of employers faced with applications from candidates who were identical on all relevant characteristics other than their ethnic or national origin.
The research team sent pairs of matched CVs in response to 240 separate job adverts. The two fictitious applicants had equivalent qualifications, skills and experience – all gained in Ireland. The only difference was the name at the top of the CVs. Candidates with Irish names were more than twice as likely to be called to interview as those with minority names.
According to a spokesman for the ERSI, the level of discrimination was found to be consistent across the three minorities tested African, Asian, and German, and among three different occupations in lower administration, lower accountancy and retail sales. The experiment was carried out between March and October 2008. Compared with similar experiments carried out in other countries, the level of discrimination recorded for Ireland is considered to be very high.
Richard Fallon, Acting Chief Executive of the Equality Authority said: "The findings of this study don't just highlight a loss of equality of opportunity for potential non-Irish job applicants. They also point up a needless loss of business opportunity if we choose not to look to the skills behind the names on job applications.
"I hope the findings of this study will encourage us to build again on the excellent strategies already developed by Irish enterprise to capture the successes of cultural diversity in the workplace."
(DW/BMcC)
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