{"id":158,"date":"2019-07-10T16:24:19","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T16:24:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=158"},"modified":"2024-04-25T01:23:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T01:23:04","slug":"avoiding-bias-in-selection","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/chapter\/avoiding-bias-in-selection\/","title":{"raw":"Avoiding Bias in Selection","rendered":"Avoiding Bias in Selection"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\r\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Discuss how to avoid discrimination in the selection process<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Discuss how to avoid perceptual errors (unconscious bias) in the selection process<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Avoiding Discrimination<\/h2>\r\nThe go-to reference for avoiding discrimination in the selection process is the EEOC\u2019s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. In brief, the purpose of the Guidelines is \u201cto aid in the achievement of our nation's goal of equal employment opportunity without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, sex, religion or national origin.\u201d[footnote]\"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.uniformguidelines.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures<\/a>.\" Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] The Guidelines constitute a uniform set of principles governing employee selection procedures that are consistent with applicable legal standards and validation standards generally accepted by the psychological profession.\r\n\r\nThe Guidelines apply to\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>most private and public employers, including labor organizations, employment agencies, state and local governments, and federal government contractors and subcontractors<\/li>\r\n \t<li>all selection procedures used to make employment decisions, including interviews, review of experience or education from application forms, work samples, physical requirements, and evaluations of performance<\/li>\r\n \t<li>employee selection procedures used in making retention, promotion, transfer, demotion, or dismissal decisions<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAs an aside: the guidelines do not have bearing on recruiting procedures or practices\u2014for example, practices designed to attract members of a particular race, sex, or ethnic group that are under-represented.\r\n\r\nThe California State Personnel Board\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/home.ubalt.edu\/tmitch\/645\/articles\/summary_of%20_uniform_guidelines-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Summary of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures<\/a>\u201d\u00a0is more accessible than trying to parse the original Guidelines.[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/home.ubalt.edu\/tmitch\/645\/articles\/summary_of%20_uniform_guidelines-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Summary of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Process<\/a>.\" California State Personnel Board. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] To excerpt: The Uniform Guidelines \u201cestablish uniform standards for employers for the use of selection procedures and to address adverse impact, validation, and record-keeping requirements...and outline the requirements necessary for employers to legally defend employment decisions based upon overall selection processes and specific selection procedures.\u201d[footnote]Ibid.[\/footnote]\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Key Points<\/h3>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employer policies or practices which have an adverse impact on employment opportunities of any race, sex, or ethnic group are said to be discriminatory and are illegal unless justified by business necessity.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If adverse impact exists for a specific selection procedure or an overall selection process, the selection procedure must be validated to document the relationship between the procedure and successful performance on the job.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discrimination or adverse impact is decided based on the \u201c4\/5ths\u201d or \u201c80 percent\u201d rule. If a comparison group does not have a passing rate equal to or greater than 80 percent of the passing rate of the highest group, then it is generally held as evidence of adverse impact for the particular selection procedure.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the use of a particular selection procedure results in adverse impact, the employer can cease use of the procedure or it must demonstrate the \u201cbusiness necessity\u201d of the selection procedure through validation.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Validation is the establishment of a clear relationship between a selection procedure and the requirements of successful job performance. Refer to the Summary for additional details on the aspects of validity testing and additional requirements.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\nFor a higher-level view, the following is a representative sample of the EEOC\u2019s Employer Best Practices for Testing and Selection:[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/policy\/docs\/factemployment_procedures.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Employment Tests and Selection Procedures<\/a>.\" The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employers should administer tests and other selection procedures without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age (40 or older), or disability.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employers should ensure that employment tests and other selection procedures are properly validated for the positions and purposes for which they are used. The test or selection procedure must be job-related and its results appropriate for the employer\u2019s purpose. While a test vendor\u2019s documentation supporting the validity of a test may be helpful, the employer is still responsible for ensuring that its tests are valid under UGESP.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a selection procedure screens out a protected group, the employer should determine whether there is an equally effective alternative selection procedure that has less adverse impact and, if so, adopt the alternative procedure.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To ensure that a test or selection procedure remains predictive of success in a job, employers should keep abreast of changes in job requirements and should update the test specifications or selection procedures accordingly.<\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No test or selection procedure should be implemented \u201ccasually\u201d; that is, without an understanding of its effectiveness and limitations for the organization, its appropriateness for a specific job, and whether it can be appropriately administered and scored.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>PRactice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/4a94c46f-c162-4abc-8f64-66fd4d7381de\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Avoiding Perceptual Errors<\/h2>\r\nWhen reviewing a final slate of candidates, it\u2019s important to be aware of the potential for perception errors and unconscious bias.\r\n\r\nResearch has indicated that interviewers make decisions about candidates rapidly\u2014within the first 30 seconds to 2 \u00bd minutes, to be precise.[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theheadhunters.ca\/blog\/what-is-first-impression-error\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What is First Impression Error?<\/a>\" The Headhunters. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] Unfortunately, we also tend to overrate our ability to evaluate others. In a study cited in Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, an algorithm that weighed several objective job-related criteria did a 25% better job of selecting successful candidates than experienced managers. A common mistake is judging candidates based on a first impression or \u201clikeability.\u201d As IBM Smarter Workforce business development executive Jason Berkowitz notes: \"It's so easy to assume that a firm handshake and good eye contact means someone is competent across the board.\"[footnote]Trinder, Elizabeth. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.agent-entrepreneur.com\/341022\/5-common-hiring-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5 Common Hiring Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.<\/a>\" Agent Entrepreneur. June 11, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] Interview tip: Don't use the interview to try to validate your initial judgment\u2014positive or negative. Berkowitz\u2019s recommendation: \u201cHiring managers should actually try to disprove their initial impression.\"[footnote]Ibid.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nAnother common error is interviewer bias, where the interviewer allows information reviewed prior to the interview\u2014resume, test scores, social media activity\u2014to shape their perception of the candidate. In order to counter this and related judgement errors, interviewers should cultivate active listening skills and focus on evaluating each candidate relative to the same standards.\r\n\r\nAnother source of evaluation error is unconscious bias, which is \u201ca prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another\u2014usually in a way that\u2019s considered to be unfair.\u201d[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/diversity.ucsf.edu\/resources\/unconscious-bias\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unconscious Bias.<\/a>\" UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] In a Fast Company article titled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3037359\/how-unconscious-bias-affects-everything-you-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How Unconscious Bias Affects Everything You Do<\/a>,\u201d author Howard Ross notes that \u201cOver 1,000 studies in the past 10 years alone have conclusively shown that if you\u2019re human, you have bias, and that it impacts almost every variation of human identity: Race, gender, sexual orientation, body size, religion, accent, height, hand dominance, etc.\u201d[footnote]\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3037359\/how-unconscious-bias-affects-everything-you-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How Unconscious Bias Affects Everything You Do<\/a>.\" Fast Company. October 22, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] His conclusion: \u201cThe question is not \u2018do we have bias?\u2019 but rather \u2018which are ours?\u2019\u201d The implications for human resource management? How do we design selection processes that counter unconscious bias?\r\n<div class=\"textbox examples\">\r\n<h3>Bias in the Orchestra<\/h3>\r\nThe classic example of how to design around unconscious bias is that of major orchestras attempting to overcome systemic hiring bias and achieve relative gender equity. Although there were a number of factors that contributed to bias\u2014for example, issuing private invitations rather than advertising auditions\u2014the critical modification was implementing blind auditions, where raters did not see the musicians.\r\n\r\nAlthough this is where most people end the story, the curtain wasn't the final bias hack. As University of Troms\u00f8t professor Curt Rice reported in the Guardian, the curtain did make it 50% more likely that a woman would advance to the finals; however, the sound of a woman's heels on the stage still triggered unconscious bias. The final modification was to have musicians remove their shoes before entering the audition area.[footnote]Rice, Curt. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/women-in-leadership\/2013\/oct\/14\/blind-auditions-orchestras-gender-bias\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How Blind Auditions Help Orchestras to Eliminate Gender Bias.<\/a>\" The Guardian. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] Rice observes that while gender blind evaluations may seem impractical, orchestras prove it can be done. His challenge: \u201cIf we trust the research and accept that women are being judged more fairly because of the screen, perhaps we should ask if there's any way to replicate the musicians' success. What kind of screen would be needed at your workplace?\u201d\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nUnconscious bias can also be a factor in the pre-screening process. In an article titled \u201cCan dogs help us avoid hiring bias?\u201d[footnote]Turits, Meredith.\"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/capital\/story\/20190211-can-dogs-help-us-avoid-hiring-bias\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Can Dogs Help us Avoid Hiring Bias?<\/a>\" BBC Worklife. February 10, 2019. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] BBC Senior Editor Meredith Turits describes TED director of research and development Aaron Weyenberg\u2019s attempts to hack unconscious bias in the hiring process. One of the hiring policies he implemented was to conduct first-round interviews with audio-only telephone calls, to eliminate consideration of irrelevant information. However, he was aware that LinkedIn \u201coften finds its way into the process before that. And what that does is expose to me to information I actually don't want and doesn't help me \u2013 like their appearance (and thereby their approximate age), name, et cetera.\u201d To get around that, Weyenberg used the Profile of Dogs Chrome browser extension, which replaces a LinkedIn user\u2019s profile picture with randomly assigned image of a dog\u2019s face. The problem with that theory, as Princeton assistant chair of psychology Alexander Todorov explains, is that people make associations with all kinds of things. Even dogs. For instance, different dogs have different reputations and invoke different responses (think: pit bull versus golden retriever) and the viewer may transfer those associations to the candidate\u2014even when they know the image is randomly generated. Turits notes that even if we are able to remove bias from an initial screening, it\u2019s likely to slip back in at a later stage. As Todorov phrases it: \u201cthe mind is a big associative machine.\u201d Inclusion consulting firm Jones Diversity CEO Sharon Jones notes that \u201cMost people believe they are fair and support a meritocracy in hiring and in the workplace. What people don\u2019t understand that wanting to be fair doesn\u2019t make you fair.\u201d[footnote]Ibid.[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nSo if the goal is to neutralize unconscious bias and believing we\u2019re fair doesn\u2019t make it so, what does? Ross proposes two approaches: awareness and design. Specifically, he notes that \u201cwhen we are aware of our biases and watch out for them, they are less likely to blindly dictate our decisions.\u201d[footnote]\"How Unconscious Bias Affects Everything You Do.\" Fast Company. October 22, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019.[\/footnote] To the second point, he advocates for developing approaches that help us make decisions more consciously. One of the specific actions he recommends is priming, explaining that \u201cby consciously priming people to pay attention to potential areas of bias, we have found that they can be encouraged to be more conscious of their decision-making processes.\u201d Specifically, the goal is to help managers identify what they\u2019re reacting to and refocus on information that\u2019s relevant to the job.\r\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\r\n<h3>PRactice Question<\/h3>\r\nhttps:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/ad7c3abf-9377-4b3b-8ff4-41e6a9e5fd4c\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>Learning Outcomes<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss how to avoid discrimination in the selection process<\/li>\n<li>Discuss how to avoid perceptual errors (unconscious bias) in the selection process<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Avoiding Discrimination<\/h2>\n<p>The go-to reference for avoiding discrimination in the selection process is the EEOC\u2019s Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures. In brief, the purpose of the Guidelines is \u201cto aid in the achievement of our nation&#8217;s goal of equal employment opportunity without discrimination on the grounds of race, color, sex, religion or national origin.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures.&quot; Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-1\" href=\"#footnote-158-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a> The Guidelines constitute a uniform set of principles governing employee selection procedures that are consistent with applicable legal standards and validation standards generally accepted by the psychological profession.<\/p>\n<p>The Guidelines apply to<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>most private and public employers, including labor organizations, employment agencies, state and local governments, and federal government contractors and subcontractors<\/li>\n<li>all selection procedures used to make employment decisions, including interviews, review of experience or education from application forms, work samples, physical requirements, and evaluations of performance<\/li>\n<li>employee selection procedures used in making retention, promotion, transfer, demotion, or dismissal decisions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As an aside: the guidelines do not have bearing on recruiting procedures or practices\u2014for example, practices designed to attract members of a particular race, sex, or ethnic group that are under-represented.<\/p>\n<p>The California State Personnel Board\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/home.ubalt.edu\/tmitch\/645\/articles\/summary_of%20_uniform_guidelines-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Summary of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures<\/a>\u201d\u00a0is more accessible than trying to parse the original Guidelines.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Summary of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Process.&quot; California State Personnel Board. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-2\" href=\"#footnote-158-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a> To excerpt: The Uniform Guidelines \u201cestablish uniform standards for employers for the use of selection procedures and to address adverse impact, validation, and record-keeping requirements&#8230;and outline the requirements necessary for employers to legally defend employment decisions based upon overall selection processes and specific selection procedures.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ibid.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-3\" href=\"#footnote-158-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Key Points<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employer policies or practices which have an adverse impact on employment opportunities of any race, sex, or ethnic group are said to be discriminatory and are illegal unless justified by business necessity.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If adverse impact exists for a specific selection procedure or an overall selection process, the selection procedure must be validated to document the relationship between the procedure and successful performance on the job.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discrimination or adverse impact is decided based on the \u201c4\/5ths\u201d or \u201c80 percent\u201d rule. If a comparison group does not have a passing rate equal to or greater than 80 percent of the passing rate of the highest group, then it is generally held as evidence of adverse impact for the particular selection procedure.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If the use of a particular selection procedure results in adverse impact, the employer can cease use of the procedure or it must demonstrate the \u201cbusiness necessity\u201d of the selection procedure through validation.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Validation is the establishment of a clear relationship between a selection procedure and the requirements of successful job performance. Refer to the Summary for additional details on the aspects of validity testing and additional requirements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>For a higher-level view, the following is a representative sample of the EEOC\u2019s Employer Best Practices for Testing and Selection:<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Employment Tests and Selection Procedures.&quot; The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-4\" href=\"#footnote-158-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employers should administer tests and other selection procedures without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age (40 or older), or disability.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employers should ensure that employment tests and other selection procedures are properly validated for the positions and purposes for which they are used. The test or selection procedure must be job-related and its results appropriate for the employer\u2019s purpose. While a test vendor\u2019s documentation supporting the validity of a test may be helpful, the employer is still responsible for ensuring that its tests are valid under UGESP.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If a selection procedure screens out a protected group, the employer should determine whether there is an equally effective alternative selection procedure that has less adverse impact and, if so, adopt the alternative procedure.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To ensure that a test or selection procedure remains predictive of success in a job, employers should keep abreast of changes in job requirements and should update the test specifications or selection procedures accordingly.<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No test or selection procedure should be implemented \u201ccasually\u201d; that is, without an understanding of its effectiveness and limitations for the organization, its appropriateness for a specific job, and whether it can be appropriately administered and scored.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>PRactice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_4a94c46f-c162-4abc-8f64-66fd4d7381de\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/4a94c46f-c162-4abc-8f64-66fd4d7381de?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_4a94c46f-c162-4abc-8f64-66fd4d7381de\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Avoiding Perceptual Errors<\/h2>\n<p>When reviewing a final slate of candidates, it\u2019s important to be aware of the potential for perception errors and unconscious bias.<\/p>\n<p>Research has indicated that interviewers make decisions about candidates rapidly\u2014within the first 30 seconds to 2 \u00bd minutes, to be precise.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;What is First Impression Error?&quot; The Headhunters. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-5\" href=\"#footnote-158-5\" aria-label=\"Footnote 5\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[5]<\/sup><\/a> Unfortunately, we also tend to overrate our ability to evaluate others. In a study cited in Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, an algorithm that weighed several objective job-related criteria did a 25% better job of selecting successful candidates than experienced managers. A common mistake is judging candidates based on a first impression or \u201clikeability.\u201d As IBM Smarter Workforce business development executive Jason Berkowitz notes: &#8220;It&#8217;s so easy to assume that a firm handshake and good eye contact means someone is competent across the board.&#8221;<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Trinder, Elizabeth. &quot;5 Common Hiring Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.&quot; Agent Entrepreneur. June 11, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-6\" href=\"#footnote-158-6\" aria-label=\"Footnote 6\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[6]<\/sup><\/a> Interview tip: Don&#8217;t use the interview to try to validate your initial judgment\u2014positive or negative. Berkowitz\u2019s recommendation: \u201cHiring managers should actually try to disprove their initial impression.&#8221;<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ibid.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-7\" href=\"#footnote-158-7\" aria-label=\"Footnote 7\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Another common error is interviewer bias, where the interviewer allows information reviewed prior to the interview\u2014resume, test scores, social media activity\u2014to shape their perception of the candidate. In order to counter this and related judgement errors, interviewers should cultivate active listening skills and focus on evaluating each candidate relative to the same standards.<\/p>\n<p>Another source of evaluation error is unconscious bias, which is \u201ca prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another\u2014usually in a way that\u2019s considered to be unfair.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;Unconscious Bias.&quot; UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-8\" href=\"#footnote-158-8\" aria-label=\"Footnote 8\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[8]<\/sup><\/a> In a Fast Company article titled \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3037359\/how-unconscious-bias-affects-everything-you-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How Unconscious Bias Affects Everything You Do<\/a>,\u201d author Howard Ross notes that \u201cOver 1,000 studies in the past 10 years alone have conclusively shown that if you\u2019re human, you have bias, and that it impacts almost every variation of human identity: Race, gender, sexual orientation, body size, religion, accent, height, hand dominance, etc.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;How Unconscious Bias Affects Everything You Do.&quot; Fast Company. October 22, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-9\" href=\"#footnote-158-9\" aria-label=\"Footnote 9\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[9]<\/sup><\/a> His conclusion: \u201cThe question is not \u2018do we have bias?\u2019 but rather \u2018which are ours?\u2019\u201d The implications for human resource management? How do we design selection processes that counter unconscious bias?<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox examples\">\n<h3>Bias in the Orchestra<\/h3>\n<p>The classic example of how to design around unconscious bias is that of major orchestras attempting to overcome systemic hiring bias and achieve relative gender equity. Although there were a number of factors that contributed to bias\u2014for example, issuing private invitations rather than advertising auditions\u2014the critical modification was implementing blind auditions, where raters did not see the musicians.<\/p>\n<p>Although this is where most people end the story, the curtain wasn&#8217;t the final bias hack. As University of Troms\u00f8t professor Curt Rice reported in the Guardian, the curtain did make it 50% more likely that a woman would advance to the finals; however, the sound of a woman&#8217;s heels on the stage still triggered unconscious bias. The final modification was to have musicians remove their shoes before entering the audition area.<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Rice, Curt. &quot;How Blind Auditions Help Orchestras to Eliminate Gender Bias.&quot; The Guardian. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-10\" href=\"#footnote-158-10\" aria-label=\"Footnote 10\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[10]<\/sup><\/a> Rice observes that while gender blind evaluations may seem impractical, orchestras prove it can be done. His challenge: \u201cIf we trust the research and accept that women are being judged more fairly because of the screen, perhaps we should ask if there&#8217;s any way to replicate the musicians&#8217; success. What kind of screen would be needed at your workplace?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Unconscious bias can also be a factor in the pre-screening process. In an article titled \u201cCan dogs help us avoid hiring bias?\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Turits, Meredith.&quot;Can Dogs Help us Avoid Hiring Bias?&quot; BBC Worklife. February 10, 2019. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-11\" href=\"#footnote-158-11\" aria-label=\"Footnote 11\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[11]<\/sup><\/a> BBC Senior Editor Meredith Turits describes TED director of research and development Aaron Weyenberg\u2019s attempts to hack unconscious bias in the hiring process. One of the hiring policies he implemented was to conduct first-round interviews with audio-only telephone calls, to eliminate consideration of irrelevant information. However, he was aware that LinkedIn \u201coften finds its way into the process before that. And what that does is expose to me to information I actually don&#8217;t want and doesn&#8217;t help me \u2013 like their appearance (and thereby their approximate age), name, et cetera.\u201d To get around that, Weyenberg used the Profile of Dogs Chrome browser extension, which replaces a LinkedIn user\u2019s profile picture with randomly assigned image of a dog\u2019s face. The problem with that theory, as Princeton assistant chair of psychology Alexander Todorov explains, is that people make associations with all kinds of things. Even dogs. For instance, different dogs have different reputations and invoke different responses (think: pit bull versus golden retriever) and the viewer may transfer those associations to the candidate\u2014even when they know the image is randomly generated. Turits notes that even if we are able to remove bias from an initial screening, it\u2019s likely to slip back in at a later stage. As Todorov phrases it: \u201cthe mind is a big associative machine.\u201d Inclusion consulting firm Jones Diversity CEO Sharon Jones notes that \u201cMost people believe they are fair and support a meritocracy in hiring and in the workplace. What people don\u2019t understand that wanting to be fair doesn\u2019t make you fair.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Ibid.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-12\" href=\"#footnote-158-12\" aria-label=\"Footnote 12\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[12]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So if the goal is to neutralize unconscious bias and believing we\u2019re fair doesn\u2019t make it so, what does? Ross proposes two approaches: awareness and design. Specifically, he notes that \u201cwhen we are aware of our biases and watch out for them, they are less likely to blindly dictate our decisions.\u201d<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"&quot;How Unconscious Bias Affects Everything You Do.&quot; Fast Company. October 22, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019.\" id=\"return-footnote-158-13\" href=\"#footnote-158-13\" aria-label=\"Footnote 13\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[13]<\/sup><\/a> To the second point, he advocates for developing approaches that help us make decisions more consciously. One of the specific actions he recommends is priming, explaining that \u201cby consciously priming people to pay attention to potential areas of bias, we have found that they can be encouraged to be more conscious of their decision-making processes.\u201d Specifically, the goal is to help managers identify what they\u2019re reacting to and refocus on information that\u2019s relevant to the job.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox tryit\">\n<h3>PRactice Question<\/h3>\n<p>\t<iframe id=\"assessment_practice_ad7c3abf-9377-4b3b-8ff4-41e6a9e5fd4c\" class=\"resizable\" src=\"https:\/\/assess.lumenlearning.com\/practice\/ad7c3abf-9377-4b3b-8ff4-41e6a9e5fd4c?iframe_resize_id=assessment_practice_id_ad7c3abf-9377-4b3b-8ff4-41e6a9e5fd4c\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:300px;\"><br \/>\n\t<\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-158\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Avoiding Bias in Selection. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Nina Burokas. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-158-1\">\"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.uniformguidelines.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures<\/a>.\" Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-2\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/home.ubalt.edu\/tmitch\/645\/articles\/summary_of%20_uniform_guidelines-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Summary of the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Process<\/a>.\" California State Personnel Board. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-3\">Ibid. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-4\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.eeoc.gov\/policy\/docs\/factemployment_procedures.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Employment Tests and Selection Procedures<\/a>.\" The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-5\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theheadhunters.ca\/blog\/what-is-first-impression-error\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What is First Impression Error?<\/a>\" The Headhunters. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-5\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 5\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-6\">Trinder, Elizabeth. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.agent-entrepreneur.com\/341022\/5-common-hiring-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">5 Common Hiring Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.<\/a>\" Agent Entrepreneur. June 11, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-6\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 6\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-7\">Ibid. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-7\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 7\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-8\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/diversity.ucsf.edu\/resources\/unconscious-bias\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Unconscious Bias.<\/a>\" UCSF Office of Diversity and Outreach. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-8\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 8\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-9\">\"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fastcompany.com\/3037359\/how-unconscious-bias-affects-everything-you-do\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How Unconscious Bias Affects Everything You Do<\/a>.\" Fast Company. October 22, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-9\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 9\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-10\">Rice, Curt. \"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/women-in-leadership\/2013\/oct\/14\/blind-auditions-orchestras-gender-bias\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How Blind Auditions Help Orchestras to Eliminate Gender Bias.<\/a>\" The Guardian. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-10\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 10\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-11\">Turits, Meredith.\"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/capital\/story\/20190211-can-dogs-help-us-avoid-hiring-bias\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Can Dogs Help us Avoid Hiring Bias?<\/a>\" BBC Worklife. February 10, 2019. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-11\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 11\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-12\">Ibid. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-12\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 12\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-158-13\">\"How Unconscious Bias Affects Everything You Do.\" Fast Company. October 22, 2014. Accessed July 26, 2019. <a href=\"#return-footnote-158-13\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 13\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":13,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Avoiding Bias in Selection\",\"author\":\"Nina Burokas\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"47bb1329-4fcc-48dd-a680-d396befffd7e, a7c4b14f-4694-47d4-bd87-e317b946d23b, 3e08db16-11cb-4e3d-80a6-7d2282d11720","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-158","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":145,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3347,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/158\/revisions\/3347"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/145"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/158\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=158"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=158"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-humanresourcesmgmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}