What Is in a Name? Exploring Perceptions of Surname Change in Hiring Evaluations in Academia

Vasilena Stefanova (), Ioana Latu and Laura Taylor
Additional contact information
Vasilena Stefanova: School of Social Sciences, Birmingham City University, Birmingham B4 7BD, UK
Ioana Latu: School of Psychology, Queen’s University, Belfast BT9 5BN, UK
Laura Taylor: School of Psychology, University College Dublin, D04 V1W8 Dublin, Ireland

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-18

Abstract: The motherhood penalty reflects inequalities in the workplace based on caregiver status. A number of factors have been identified as potential triggers of motherhood penalty effects, such as becoming pregnant or taking maternity leave. However, little is known as to whether these effects could also be triggered by more subtle cues that may signal potential changes in caregiver status. The current study investigated the impact of surname change visible on publication lists in academics’ Google Scholar profiles on evaluations of competence, commitment, work–family balance, hiring, and promotion likelihood. Contrary to the predictions in our preregistration, the findings showed that women who have changed their surname received more favourable evaluations compared to those who did not. In addition, female participants favoured female academics who have changed their surname compared to those who did not and this was mediated by higher perceived competence and commitment scores. These findings were interpreted through the lens of social role theory and the role prioritisation model, suggesting that behaviours that are consistent with gendered expectations are evaluated more favourably.

Keywords: surname change; motherhood; gender; academia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/2/95/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/2/95/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2023:i:2:p:95-:d:1066647

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().