In Milkman’s paper, “What Happens Before? A Field Experiment Exploring How Pay and Representation Differentially Shape Bias on the Pathway into Organizations,” she and her colleagues sent over 6,500 professors at 259 top universities all over the country the same email, which essentially asked for advice and mentorship while applying to a post-grad program. The only thing that changed between each dispatch was the make-believe sender, as the name attached cycled between those that were identifiably Caucasian, Black, Hispanic, Indian, and Chinese (as segmented in the study). And, guess what? Emails from people whose names obviously signaled race or female gender were ignored at a much higher rate that those seemingly sent by a white male. Worse still, the discrimination gap got even wider at private universities and in higher-paying disciplines (ahem, business schools).
