What is in a name?

The answer to the age-old question "What's in a name?" may well be plenty of discrimination, according to a new University of British Columbia study.

UBC economics professor Philip Oreopoulos says his study suggests that employers discriminate against people with foreign names even if they have the same education and experience as those with English names.

As part of his research, the professor tailored 6,000 mock resumes to specific job requirements in 20 occupational categories and sent them to employers with online job postings in the Greater Toronto area.

Each resume listed a bachelor's degree and up to six years' experience but the study found resumes with names like Jill Wilson or John Martin received interview callbacks 40 per cent more often than identical resumes with names like Sana Khan or Lei Li.

Oreopoulos says the findings help to explain why skilled immigrants arriving under Canada's point system - with university degrees and significant work experience - fare poorly in today's labour market.

He says name-based discrimination may contravene the Human Rights Act, but that more research is needed to determine whether the behaviour is intentional.