{"id":5722,"date":"2019-09-13T15:57:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T19:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/?page_id=5722"},"modified":"2019-11-18T11:38:07","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T16:38:07","slug":"hiring-without-bias","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/fall-2019\/hiring-without-bias\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Do That\/Do This<\/span>Hiring Without Bias<\/span>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sirens wail as the hiring manager stares at a stack of r\u00e9sum\u00e9s. He tries to focus on filling this position, on finding just the right fit. Although he\u2019s received dozens of r\u00e9sum\u00e9s from a diverse pool of applicants, he hires a white man. Again. Those sirens could have something to do with his decision, says Sanaz Mobasseri<\/a>. The assistant professor of management and organizations conducted a study in Oakland, Calif.\u2014the third most dangerous city in the United States, according to Forbes<\/i>\u2014to investigate whether employers are less likely to hire black applicants in areas where there\u2019s been a recent increase in violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite your best intentions, you\u2019re likely to be impacted by unconscious stereotypes, so have someone question your decisions.\u201d-Sanaz Mobasseri, Assistant professor of management and organizations<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She found recent exposure to nearby violent crimes reduced employers\u2019 likelihood of interviewing black job applicants, regardless of whether or not they had a criminal record. Here\u2019s how to avoid bias in your hiring:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Do That:\u00a0<\/strong>Don\u2019t forget that bias can be unconscious. In her Oakland study, Mobasseri sent 368 applications for kitchen jobs to 184 establishments, varying the details that indicated an applicant\u2019s race and whether he had a criminal record. By mapping each company\u2019s proximity and exposure to violent crimes, she found that hiring managers were 10 percent less likely to interview a black candidate than white and Hispanic candidates in neighborhoods that had recently experienced more violence than usual\u2014even if the white candidate had a criminal record and the black candidate did not. \u201cThe time and place when making hiring decisions affects a hiring manager\u2019s state of mind and impacts their decisions on candidates,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Do This:<\/strong> When hiring, consider the external factors that may influence your decision and bias you against any candidate who doesn\u2019t look like you. \u201cThere is a lot of contextual information that might affect what\u2019s salient in our minds,\u201d Mobasseri says. \u201cThat could be anything from a video game to a violent movie to hearing police sirens. If you know you have to make an important decision, think about your cognitive space.\u201d While she is hesitant to offer \u201cprescriptions that steer too far from the research,\u201d Mobasseri does suggest that being motivated to challenge your unconscious bias is an important first step. Then, \u201cclear your head of any anger, emotion, stress, distractions, or deadlines. Despite your best intentions, you\u2019re likely to be impacted by unconscious stereotypes, so have someone question your decisions. Take race off the table.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sirens wail as the hiring manager stares at a stack of r\u00e9sum\u00e9s. He tries to focus on filling this position, on finding just the right fit. Although he\u2019s received dozens of r\u00e9sum\u00e9s from a diverse pool of applicants, he hires a white man. Again. Those sirens could have something to do with his decision, says […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15163,"featured_media":0,"parent":5824,"menu_order":20,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"story.php","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Do That\/Do ThisHiring Without Bias - Questrom Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/fall-2019\/hiring-without-bias\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't Do That\/Do ThisHiring Without Bias - Questrom Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sirens wail as the hiring manager stares at a stack of r\u00e9sum\u00e9s. He tries to focus on filling this position, on finding just the right fit. 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