Unconscious bias: Stereotypical hiring practices. | Gail Tolstoi-Miller | TEDxLincolnSquare

TEDx Talks

4 May 201710:33

EducationalLearning

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TLDRThe speaker, a recruiter and career coach, reveals the shocking reality of unconscious bias in hiring, explaining how even minor details like white pumps or a candidate's tone can lead to rejection. With an average resume review time of just six seconds, the impact of these biases is profound. The speaker shares personal experiences and strategies, like the 'so what' approach, to challenge and mitigate these biases, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and focusing on the facts in hiring decisions.

Takeaways

🕒 The average time a recruiter spends reviewing a resume is only six seconds, which is much shorter than the time it takes to microwave popcorn.
🧠 Our brains process 11 million pieces of information at any time but can only handle 40, leading to shortcuts and unconscious bias in decision-making.
🔍 Unconscious bias isn't just about race, age, or gender; it can also include less obvious factors like clothing choices.
👠 A personal belief about wearing white pumps after Labor Day influenced a hiring decision, demonstrating how unconscious bias can affect hiring outcomes.
📄 Every detail on a resume, including mailing address and email, can contribute to unconscious bias and impact a candidate's chances.
🏫 Even prestigious institutions like Indiana University can be perceived negatively due to unconscious bias, as seen in the example of Mark Cuban.
🕊️ Social media investigations can reveal information that may lead to unconscious bias against a candidate, such as a party photo or political views.
🗣️ Unconscious bias can also affect phone interviews based on a candidate's tone, pitch, and accent, influencing the recruiter's perception.
👀 In-person interviews are not immune to unconscious bias, with appearances like tattoos, hair, or perceived stereotypes affecting hiring decisions.
🤔 The speaker's personal experience with unconscious bias led to a self-audit and increased self-awareness, highlighting the importance of recognizing and addressing one's own biases.
💡 Asking 'so what' can be a powerful tool to challenge assumptions and judgments, helping to mitigate the impact of unconscious bias in decision-making.

Q & A

What is the average time a recruiter spends reviewing a resume?
-The average time a recruiter spends reviewing a resume is six seconds.
Why do recruiters sometimes make decisions based on unconscious bias?
-Recruiters make decisions based on unconscious bias because the brain creates shortcuts to handle the overwhelming amount of information we are exposed to, leading to quick decisions without being fully aware of the underlying biases.
What is an example of an unconscious bias that affected a hiring decision in the script?
-An example of unconscious bias mentioned in the script is a hiring manager not hiring a candidate because she wore white pumps after Labor Day, which the manager found inappropriate.
What are some details on a resume that can be a deciding factor in the hiring process?
-Details such as mailing address, email address, the reputation of the candidate's college, and social media presence can all be deciding factors in the hiring process due to potential unconscious biases.
How can a candidate's social media presence impact their hiring chances?
-A candidate's social media presence can impact their hiring chances if recruiters find content that they perceive as unprofessional or not aligning with the company's values, such as pictures of the candidate drunk at a party or tweets that disagree with the recruiter's views.
What is the role of tone, pitch, and accent in phone interviews?
-In phone interviews, tone, pitch, and accent can create unconscious bias for the recruiter, affecting their perception of the candidate and potentially influencing the hiring decision.
Why might an in-person interview lead to unconscious bias?
-An in-person interview can lead to unconscious bias due to factors such as the candidate's appearance, tattoos, hairstyle, or other physical attributes that may trigger the recruiter's preconceived notions or stereotypes.

Outlines

00:00

😲 Unconscious Bias in Recruitment

The speaker opens by shocking the audience with the fact that recruiters spend only six seconds reviewing resumes, emphasizing the prevalence of unconscious bias in the hiring process. They explain how the brain's shortcuts lead to biases that are often unrecognized, such as the example of a candidate rejected for wearing white pumps after Labor Day. The speaker, a recruiter and career coach, shares personal anecdotes and insights into how small details like a mailing address, email handle, or social media presence can influence hiring decisions, leading to unfair judgments.

05:03

🤔 Confronting Unconscious Bias in Hiring

The speaker delves into their personal journey of recognizing and confronting their own unconscious bias, which they discovered after conducting a 'recruiting audit' on themselves. They admit to having made hiring mistakes based on fear and the desire for safety, and they encourage others to challenge their assumptions and judgments. By asking 'so what' to their biases, they learned to focus on the facts and the importance of individual differences in building collective strength. The speaker's transformation from being part of the problem to seeking a solution is a call to action for others in the hiring process.

10:04

🎭 Embracing Individuality to Overcome Bias

In a powerful conclusion, the speaker physically embodies the unconventional attributes they once unconsciously biased against, such as wearing a bright red polka dot dress, purple hair, and white pumps, along with having tattoos. By doing so, they visually represent the absurdity of judging candidates based on superficial characteristics. The speaker's transformation on stage serves as a reminder that individual differences should be celebrated rather than feared, and that overcoming unconscious bias is a collective effort.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Unconscious Bias

Unconscious bias refers to the automatic, unintentional attitudes and stereotypes that we hold about certain groups of people. In the video, it is highlighted as a significant factor that can affect hiring decisions, with the speaker sharing personal experiences where unconscious bias led to unfair judgments about candidates, such as the example of the candidate rejected for wearing white pumps.

💡Resume

A resume is a document used by job applicants to present their skills, experience, and education. The video emphasizes the importance of every detail on a resume, including seemingly trivial aspects like a mailing address or email address, which can influence a recruiter's perception and decision-making process.

💡Recruiter

A recruiter is a professional who seeks out potential employees for a company. The speaker in the video is a recruiter and career coach, sharing insights into the hiring process and the role of unconscious bias in that process, as well as personal anecdotes about the impact of bias on candidate selection.

💡Hiring Manager

A hiring manager is the individual responsible for overseeing the hiring process within a company. In the script, the hiring manager's decision not to hire a candidate due to a personal belief about wearing white pumps illustrates how unconscious bias can affect hiring decisions.

💡Social Media Investigation

This refers to the practice of recruiters examining a candidate's social media presence as part of the hiring process. The video mentions that recruiters may use platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to gather information about candidates, which can be influenced by unconscious bias.

💡Tone, Pitch, and Accent

These are aspects of a person's voice that can convey information about them. In the context of the video, these vocal characteristics can introduce unconscious bias during phone interviews, affecting the recruiter's perception of a candidate even when their appearance is not visible.

💡In-Person Interview

An in-person interview is a face-to-face meeting between a candidate and a recruiter or hiring manager. The video discusses how unconscious bias can manifest in this setting through judgments based on physical appearance, such as tattoos or hairstyles.

💡Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is the ability to recognize and understand one's own emotions, motivations, and biases. The speaker in the video underwent a process of self-awareness to identify and confront their own unconscious biases, which is presented as a crucial step in overcoming these biases.

💡Implicit Association Test (IAT)

The IAT is a psychological test designed to measure a person's automatic associations between different concepts. The speaker mentions taking Harvard's online IAT to gauge their level of unconscious bias, highlighting the importance of self-assessment in recognizing one's biases.

💡Stereotype

A stereotype is a widely held but often oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. The video touches on various stereotypes, such as the assumption that Asians are better with technology, which can lead to biased hiring decisions.

💡So What

In the context of the video, 'So what' is a rhetorical question used to challenge one's own biases and assumptions. The speaker suggests using this question as a tool for self-reflection and to question the validity of judgments made based on unconscious bias.

Highlights

The average time a recruiter reviews a resume is only six seconds.

People are bombarded with 11 million pieces of information but can only process 40, leading to decision-making shortcuts and unconscious bias.

Unconscious bias can affect hiring decisions beyond the obvious factors like race, age, and gender.

A hiring manager's decision was influenced by a candidate's white pumps, an example of unconscious bias.

Resume details, including mailing address and email address, can influence hiring decisions.

Perceptions of educational institutions can impact a candidate's chances, even for reputable colleges.

Social media investigations by recruiters can lead to candidates being rejected based on online presence.

Unconscious bias can affect phone interviews based on a candidate's tone, pitch, and accent.

In-person interviews can be influenced by appearances, such as tattoos, hair, and stereotypes.

The presenter's personal experience with being judged and misunderstood due to appearance and attitude.

The importance of self-awareness and auditing one's own unconscious biases in the hiring process.

Fear plays a role in shaping decisions and contributing to unconscious bias.

The presenter's realization of their own unconscious bias after conducting a self-audit.

The use of the 'so what' approach to challenge and unravel unconscious bias.

Asking 'so what' helps to remove emotional clutter and focus on facts in decision-making.

The inevitability of being judged by others' unconscious bias and the importance of self-checking.

The presenter's transformation and message of embracing individual differences to build collective strength.

Transcripts

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