Similar applications with another name received a different response
Before May 2020, names perceived as White received more responses. In the following six weeks, the pattern reversed, with weak evidence.
The key idea
Before May 2020, the name changed who received a response. With such limited evidence, what happened afterward remains an open question.
The study, in plain language
Researchers sent fictitious applications to service jobs in Boston and Philadelphia. They randomly assigned each name, which signaled race, while keeping work profiles comparable. Before May 2020, profiles with names perceived as White received more invitations to talk or interview than those with names perceived as Black.
In the following six weeks, the rates reversed. But the comparison between the two periods provided weak evidence: it did not reach the usual threshold for treating it as a robust change. The pandemic was also changing the job market, and without long-term follow-up, its duration is unknown.
What they found
- Before the protests, names perceived as White received more favorable responses than names perceived as Black.
- In the following weeks, rates were higher for names perceived as Black, but evidence for the change was weak.
- The study measured invitations to talk or interview, not hiring or how long the change lasted.
How they studied it
Researchers sent 1,634 fictitious applications to 817 service-job openings. Names, which signaled race, were randomly assigned, and work profiles were comparable. They measured how many applicants were invited to interview or discuss the opening, before and after May 2020.
What the study cannot show
- The study covered two cities, specific jobs and backgrounds, during a period shaped by the pandemic. A change over time does not show that protests caused it, that it lasted, or that hiring increased.
Something to think about
When you hear that workplace equality improved, ask which stage was measured: the first response, the interview, the hire, or how long the change lasted. Each tells a different part of the story.
The original study
Do black lives matter to employers? A combined field and natural experiment of racially disparate hiring practices in the wake of protests against police violence and racial oppression
Source under CC BY 4.0. English adaptation and explanation by PaperFlow, with AI assistance. The text has been reorganized for a general audience; it is not the complete paper and does not imply endorsement by its authors.
One study alone does not represent a field's consensus. Educational content does not replace professional advice. Report a possible error.
