Taking a Seat on a Panel Does Not Mean You're Right

Back in the mists of time, I attended a networking event for women in IT & Engineering* in DFW.

The event was about findings jobs (I was quietly looking at the time) and they had a panel.  The panel was accepting anonymous questions.

So, I asked the panel if any of them had ever disguised their gender on their resume.

One of the panel members became rabid at the concept of doing that.  She went as far as to say if she ever knew another woman did that, she would do her best to block that woman from ever getting hired (boy, I was glad the questions were anonymous.)

She seemed to take it as a personal affront that anyone might think that discrimination still exists.

There's a study that was recently published in Discover.  The study seems to point out that maybe using your initials on your resume isn't such a horrible thing, despite what Rabid Panel Lady said.

Fake CVs reveal discrimination against Muslims in French job market

Yes, this was a study of race and religion in France, but I think follow up studies in the US based on gender, race, and disability would be similarly revealing.


*Well, it was supposed to be IT & Engineering as our Web group had merged with an Engineering group.  Until I went to an event, and was sneered at for not being an Engineer and couldn't find any of the other Web women... never went again.