Preventing gender and racial discrimination during the hiring process

Despite efforts, it is obvious that race and gender bias still exist in the workplace. The discrimination begins at the application and hiring process, when employers are at will to make choices based off things like name, gender, etc., that have nothing to do with the actual qualifications of the applicant.

I have this challenge

the problem

While the use of technology has levelled access in many areas, hiring stats at tech companies tell a different story. Only 10% of tech jobs at Twitter and 17% of jobs at Microsoft were held by women or under-represented minorities in 2015. Studies have shown that two identical resumes with only a name difference between ‘Joe’ and ‘Jose’ can yield a 100% difference in the response rate.

ideas

Blendoor – a race, age and gender-blind app that matches employers with job applicants based on education and skills. The app has a Tinder-like format, where users upload their work and education history as well as job preferences, and both recruiters and job seekers swipe left and right until there’s a match. Names are hidden, so recruiters can’t be prejudiced – even subconsciously – by the user’s ethnicity or gender. Once a candidate and recruiter indicate mutual interest, they schedule a phone screening.

So far, more than 5,000 people have signed up, and the platform is being used by recruiters at Twitter, Airbnb, Facebook, Microsoft, Google and Intel.

attributions

https://www.socialtech.org.uk/projects/blendoor/

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