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What in a name?

The name of an applicant may lead to the job market inequality, especially in workplace by using Marx's term. Based on the Max’s argument, because a name implies the applicant's gender and race, he or she may either get or miss an employment opportunity. Max Weber is a well-known theorist whose work did a lot in helping the modern world to understand the classical perspectives on organizational communication. In most of his work, Weber focused on the structure of the whole organization rather than the organizational activities.
Racial and gender inequalities in American labor market has been persistent over time. However, there is difficulty in measuring how the discrimination works, how it is manifested and the level of perpetuation. This paper examines the meaning of the name as well as how name serves as a mechanism for perpetuating inequality in society under the capitalism especially in the workplace. If the employment and recruitment are based the on Max Weber’s management principles per see, some employer may reject those applicants based on their name. The names are based on the genders and perceived race.

Discussion

The name may influence whether one will be interviewed, hired or how much one is paid.
In terms of race, Bertrand (2003) argued that some employers enthusiastically show discrimination against African-Americans in job applications. According to Bertrand (2003), this assertion is true. To verify the claim, 1300 fictitious resumes were sent to a job opening at Boston Globe as well as the Chicago Tribune. The study revealed that a name influences whether one will be interviewed or hired. The research established that the applicants whose names are white-sounding have 50 % more likelihood to be called for a first interview in relation to the applicants whose names sound African-American. According to the study to get an interview callback, those with white names have to send an average of 10 resumes while the corresponding figure for the African-American is 15 resumes, to realize the similar result. This situation negatively affects the status group relations.
Religion also plays a role in employee selections. In terms of race religion, Bertrand (2003), argued that some employers discriminate against some people of given faith. For example, most Muslims have suffered in America due to this, especially after 9/11. Some capitalists also prefer Protestants as opposed to Catholics who are viewed as less liberal. Under the aspects of religion, Weber looked at how the beliefs may lead to rejection of wealth accumulation notion and want for excess possession. The status of women and religion still affects the access to job opportunities. The Muslim women have less access to employment opportunities due to religious restrictions and social structures. Subject to Weber’s view of Islamic law, attempts to redefine the assigned personal status are usually tantamount to violation of the basic tenets of Muslim religion. This school of thought offers sufficient justification to strongly oppose the current attempts to alter gender relations as well as laws touching on women. Since Islamic Laws are representative of a patriarchal domination which is backed by historical traditions and state authorities as well as conservative clerics, they present major challenges to those opposed to the system (Bourdieu, 2004). In addition, race, ethnicity, religion and gender play a key role in determining and influencing the opportunities available or accessible to each. In turn, religion also affects work place tolerance and recruitment. According to Luigi, Sapienza and Zingales (2002), Hindus believers are 29 % more intolerant in relation to the non-religious persons. The corresponding figures of the Muslims, actively religious Protestants and Catholics are 19 % and 7 % respectively. Employers who prefer more tolerant employees may therefore go for Hindus as opposed to Protestants.
The name influences how much one is paid and managerial position. There is certain status and competence inclined stereotype labels for the Blacks, African-Americans and Whites. In terms of competence rating, the figures for blacks, African-Americans and Whites stand at 5.79%, 6.21%, and 6.41 %, respectively (Erika, Katherine and Sarah, 2015). The rating shows that, in a bureaucratic system, the whites are viewed as more competent and may be paid higher salary with better chances of promotion. In terms of salaries, research by Erika, Katherine and Sarah (2015) showed that there are racial labels in relation to the estimated annual salaries. The estimated annual salary for managerial position for the ‘Black’ is 29,420 USD while the corresponding figure for African-American is 37,040 USD. These perpetuate race inequality. The findings by Erika, Katherine and Sarah (2015) negate the principles of management as presented by Max Weber. Weber believed that the selection of employees should be based on technical competence rather than subjective factors like race. According to him, the process of job selection should start with job description then the kind of education needed, abilities as well as experiences needed for each particular position. Due to this, he felt that the process should be rational, objective and unbiased in order to allow matching each person to the task. This way he believed workers would be motivated and hence perform efficiently.

Conclusion

Under the sociological lens of max weber, different social factors such as ethnicity, race, religion and gender influences and determines the job authority of each (Wilson 2010). Based on Weber’s argument, religious ideas like Calvinism have been critical in the creation of the capitalistic spirit. A future research should look into how religion and racial stereotypes relate to the current economic conditions and crises. The focus should be on how Calvinism based profiteering affects access to job opportunities, race based pay structures and gender/religion inclined recruitments.

References

Bertrand, M. (2003). Are Emily and Brendan More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? The
American Economic Review, 4(4).
Bourdieu, P. (2004). Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste, translated by
Richard Nice, Cambridge, Harvard University Press.
Erika V., Katherine W. & Sarah S. (2015). A rose by any other name?
The consequences of subtyping “African-Americans” from “Blacks”. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 56 (3).
Gould, R. (2002). The Origins of Status Hierarchy: A Formal Theory and Empirical Test.
American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 107.
Luigi G., Sapienza, P. & Zingales, L. (2002). People's opium? Religion and economic
Attitudes. Journal of Monetary Economics, 50(1).
Stephen, H. (2009). Organizational behavior. NY: Prentice Hall. Print.
Wilson, E. O. (2010). Sociobiology. New York: Belknap Press.