<\/a>Mia Brooks
\n<\/strong>MC 301 Contributor\/ Staff\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Have you ever wondered why you did not get a call back for a job you applied for?<\/p>\n

Maybe you were not qualified or your resume was not up to par\u2026or maybe it was because of your ethnic sounding name or your natural hair.<\/p>\n

Natural hair and ethnic sounding names in the workplace are very relevant topics\u2026 even in 2014.<\/p>\n

Some parents living in America are faced with the dilemma of embracing their culture by giving their children ethnic names or giving them names that will not stand out on future job applications.<\/p>\n

According to a University of Chicago study entitled, \u201cAre Emily and Brendan more employable than Lakisha and Jamal?\u201d, written by Mariame Bertrand, people with names like Pam or Amber get 50 percent more call backs for interviews than applicants with similar resumes and names like Lakisha and Shaniqua.<\/p>\n

According to a report on cbsnews.org, many Jews and Asians choose to change their names in an effort to blend in to American society and improve their economic prospects and avoid discrimination. However, many African-Americans continue to chose ethnic sounding names.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Hodge, coordinator for Jackson State University Career Services and Employment Center said\u00a0 your resume and\/or job application is your initial introduction to a company and unfortunately the perception of not only ethnicity but culture plays a major role in a company\u2019s selection process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do feel that preconceived judgments are made because of an individual\u2019s name however that is why it is very important that your skill-set outweigh any assumptions a hiring manager may have.\u00a0 Make them want you!,\u201d said Hodge.<\/p>\n

Deabra Gray, a senior biology major from Jackson, Miss. said her name has always stuck out and drawn questions. Although her name has not affected her job prospects so far she plans to make a different choice with her children.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do intend to give my children names that mean something, but won\u2019t be butchered the way mine has always been. In the end, a name is just a name and doesn\u2019t say anything about a person\u2019s character, intellect, or abilities,\u201d said Gray<\/p>\n

Along with her unique name, Gray also has natural hair. Although thousands of African-American women are increasingly embracing their natural kinks and curls, some still feel that natural hair is unfit for the workplace.<\/p>\n

Gray said she is aware of the misconceptions of the professionalism of her natural hair, but she would not change it for the sake of a job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would not like to work for a company that judged its potential employees on something as trivial as hair style or texture,\u201d said Gray.<\/p>\n

This experience is not new or unique to black women, as many black men are also embracing their culture through their locs, and sometimes worrying if their decision will keep them from getting hired.<\/p>\n

According to jobs.aol.com, there have been several cases of black men suing employers for discrimination against locs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t tell what kind of person I am or if I\u2019ll be good for the job by my locs. They\u2019re a part of me but they don\u2019t define me,\u201d said Terry Jones, a junior computer engineering major from Jackson, Miss. with dread locs.<\/p>\n

There is no definite research that shows an ethnic name or hair texture determines what one will be in life.<\/p>\n

Many African-Americans such as Condoleeza Rice, Denzel Washington, Janelle Monae and India Arie have overcome the stereotypes and discrimination attached to ethnic names or natural hair and have reached success paving the way for many more.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstitutions like Jackson State University possess beautiful, eager and talented students, faculty and staff, it is our responsibility to change the mindset of our culture.\u00a0 By doing this we become the world changers instead of allowing the world to change us,\u201d said Hodge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mia Brooks MC 301 Contributor\/ Staff\u00a0 Have you ever wondered why you did not get a call back for a job you applied for? Maybe…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_plus_post_options":"{}","editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4210"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.jsums.edu\/jsuflash\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}