What’s in a Name? Assumptions About Scholars With Non-anglicized Names

We are seeing an increase in more diverse scholars from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds obtaining training and seeking jobs in the field of social/personality psychology. One potential challenge that many of these scholars face may be how they are perceived by others due to the nature of their names. That is, many scholars have non-Anglicized names (e.g., Chinese first and last names). Would admission or hiring committees have conscious or unconscious biases about these applicants/scholars on the basis of their name? For instance, would a scholar with a Chinese first and last name be judged as someone who may be less fitting with North American culture, or have their English language proficiency called into question? The purpose of this session is to explore some of these questions, to see what challenges other scholars with non-Anglicized names may face, and potentially figure out how as a field, we can be more welcoming to scholars of all backgrounds. 

Presented by: Xiaowen Xu, College of William & Mary