Race and hiring revisited!

[fskimospy]

Silver lining????

I guess the equality is better for women...

The thing I dont see addressed, is the automated filtering done by many companies. I know my company filters out applicants with software. I wonder if many of the companies the researcher applied to use the same software. Its possible the researcher could have done something when setting up the data that made it biased.

Did I miss that spy?

One of the possible sources of error is definitely that since companies automate processing it could be a flaw in the software and not indicative of human bias, yes. As it's hard to see what about the variations between race and triggering that computer response would be and how if that were the case seems like it could impact real-life individuals, that would be a pretty notable finding too though.

 

[realibrad]

One of the possible sources of error is definitely that since companies automate processing it could be a flaw in the software and not indicative of human bias, yes. As it's hard to see what about the variations between race and triggering that computer response would be and how if that were the case seems like it could impact real-life individuals, that would be a pretty notable finding too though.

I would also like to know the companies the researcher applied to. Depending on region and other demographics, I would imagine it could change things. It sure seems like a bias from the data in that paper, but the paper is implying this is a national issue, rather than a regional one. I'm assuming the researcher attempted to randomize, but with out seeing the data, he may have made some assumptions.

I would imagine that as computers come more into play, that it will become harder to filter out people like the paper is pointing to. All it would take is one person to leak a racist code, and it would be all over for that company that built it.

 

[fskimospy]

I would also like to know the companies the researcher applied to. Depending on region and other demographics, I would imagine it could change things. It sure seems like a bias from the data in that paper, but the paper is implying this is a national issue, rather than a regional one. I'm assuming the researcher attempted to randomize, but with out seeing the data, he may have made some assumptions.

I would imagine that as computers come more into play, that it will become harder to filter out people like the paper is pointing to. All it would take is one person to leak a racist code, and it would be all over for that company that built it.

I think that by far the most likely answer is not rogue computer code, but people reviewing the computer screened resumes and deciding not to call the people back.

I don't think we will ever allow computers to make those decisions for us, at least not any time soon.

 

[TreVader]

The real question is why was Tom Cruise, clearly a white man, cast as the lead in Minority Report ?

 

[Fern]

Perhaps I missed info, but this study seems to be based on whether the job candidate had a degree. If so, that seems too simplistic. Perhaps those that read the full study can help. Were things such as the following factored in:

1. Grades

2. Transcripts. I.e., did candidates applying for the same jobs have identical coursework etc.?

3. Internships. Were these taken into account? My son began college this past year as an engineering student. The intern path seems an important one in getting a good job.

I think a couple of other things need to be mentioned. Since we're speaking about "elite universities we should recognize that, unlike more ordinary (and I do not mean that in a derisive way) university, we've got basically 3 groups of students: (1) Wealthy, well connected students, (2) high achieving middle and lower class students and (3) students chosen for some diversity purpose.

Group number 1 is going to have much better job prospects than the others. Who you know is often more important than anything else. It is often rational for a business to place a high value on this. It is not racial discrimination. I don't care what color you are, or how good your grades were etc, if you're not in the wealthy connected group your employment prospects just aren't going to be the same.

Fern

 

[fskimospy]

The full study is linked.

 

[shady28]

Why not? It usually takes months to fill a job position. Instead of sitting in a circle and jerking each other off for several months, why not use that time to test the applicants? It would probably work a lot better than having a 60 minute interview about a bunch of shit that has nothing to do with your job.
"Tell us about a time you've experienced conflict in the workplace and how you overcame that conflict."
What kind of stupid fucking question is that? How many people actually have conflicts at their jobs? Even if that is the case, you can't give an honest answer. You can't say you set the guy up to get fired, it worked, and you were victorious. You need to give some fake answer that is the same as the answer given by every other candidate. Hundreds of hours are spent on this interview process and it accomplishes absolutely nothing.

Just gotta say, your last two posts were spot on.

I'm an engineer, but I've also been a manager. I've done many interviews, and the stuff you are saying is exactly what the HR people do - are trained to do.

The result is that a lot of 'technical' teams wind up being full of people who are slick talkers and experts at deflecting blame and ownership, but don't know how to do their core job function.