by Race in the Workplace special correspondent Erica

U of T student to get apology for email - TheStar.com
“A University of Toronto honours student applying for a job at Queen’s Park will receive an apology from the government after he was referred to as a ‘ghetto dude’ in an email from a part-time contract employee in the cabinet office. Evon Reid, who is black, was waiting to hear about his application for a job with the Ontario government as a media analyst when he received the email Friday.”

Does university prestige matter in hiring? - Work in Progress
“Experts” are split fairly evenly. The name may get you the foot in the door, but once you’re on that first job, it doesn’t matter anymore.

M.B.A. Field Trips - Portfolio.com
Somewhat related to the previous item, the new new thing in M.B.A. programs is travel abroad or “global experience” requirements. But so far only the top M.B.A. programs have this requirement.

Kramer: Employment Discrimination Harms Families - Workplace Prof Blog
Richard Bales sums it up: “The ‘family harms’ Kramer describes include ‘disruption harm’ (when an employee’s experience at work disrupts her ability to interact with her family, such as when an employee is too stressed or distracted to play with her children or interact with her spouse) and ‘exclusion harm’ (when an employee’s work experience is so damaging that it leads him to exclude his family from work, such as when an employee refuses to bring his children to work or to work-related social functions for fear of exposing the children to discrimination). These family harms are over & above the economic harms to the family caused by employment discrimination.”

New Study Reports Gender Sterotyping Leaves Women in Leadership in a “Double-Bind Dilemma” - DCI Consulting’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Blog
“The study, The Double-Bind Dilemma for Women in Leadership: Damned if You Do, Doomed if You Don’t, was released July 17 by Catalyst, the non-profit organization working to advance opportunities for women and business. Catalyst reports the findings strongly suggest that gender stereotypes lead organizations to routinely underestimate and underutilize women’s leadership talent.”

Acknowledging Something Queer on a Resume - Queercents
Queercents is a personal finance blog geared towards the LGBT community. John discusses the topic of how to describe his Queercents writing gig on his resume and the response he’s gotten on it in interviews.

A Monthly “Problem” for Women? - WSJ.com’s The Juggle
Sara Schaefer Muñoz sums up this New York Times Op-Ed on Lybrel, a new birth control pill which eliminates women’s periods: “While the article points out that about 8% of women do have debilitating periods, the author argues it is in the pharma industry’s interest to hype menstruation as a disease that needs curing. She also speculates on the societal reasons for concerns about women’s periods: ‘Someone cynical might suggest that research highlighting menstruation’s distressing consequences bubbles to the surface every time the public feels anxious over women’s expanding roles. (Say, the possibility that there might be a menopausal woman in the White House.)’” I was personally disappointed by the comments by women discussing whether or not their periods are really that bad, but there are some good ones on the bigger issue of whether or not this is an issue in the first place and the messages big pharma is sending to and about women.

Gely and Bierman on Employee Blogging and Legal Reform - Workplace Prof Blog
Paul Secunda excerpts the abstract: “This Article examines the increasing ’social isolation’ of American workers and the role the Internet, particularly employee ‘blogging,’ can potentially play in ameliorating this situation. It builds on a path-breaking June 2006 empirical study in the American Sociological Review documenting said social isolation, and on Harvard political scientist Robert D. Putnam’s classic theoretical work developing a similar theme. The Article argues that off-duty blogging by employees can play an important role in helping reverse this decline in social isolation, but that current legal structures impede this goal. This Article then proposes various reforms to address this situation.”

Recommended Reading is a weekly feature where we link to some of our favorite workplace-related blog posts and articles. If you would like to suggest a link to Erica, please email tips@raceintheworkplace.com