Reducing Gender Bias in Recruitment

Looking for ways to reduce the likelihood of gender bias occurring in your recruitment practices?

Gender bias is a very real issue in recruitment and selection. Although at times it may be subtle, the consequences of biased recruiting can be long lasting for an organisation and for the candidate.

The example: John Vs. Jen

In a study conducted at Yale University in 2012, researchers gave two separate groups of hiring managers two identical resumes, one with the name John and the other with the name Jen. Based on the information in the resumes, the hiring managers were asked to rate their assigned candidate on four areas: their competence, their hireability, their mentoring capabilities and their salary. The results were astonishing. John was rated higher across all areas despite the fact that the information provided in both John’s and Jen’s resume was identical.  

Moss-Racusin, C. A., Dovidio, J. F., Brescoll, V. L., Graham, M. J. and Handelsman, J. (2012).
Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favour male students, PNAS, 109(41), 16474-16479.

Why does Gender Bias occur?

Not Attracting Female Candidates

Some traditionally male dominated industries report having difficulty attracting female candidates.  This is partly to do with the lack of women choosing these industries as their career option.  For example, women make up approximately 14% of the places given to university engineering courses (Engineering Australia, 2012). Another contributing factor is that these industries may not be marketing themselves as a viable career option for women using strong employer branding. 

Unconscious Bias

We ALL hold unconscious biases. Bias is a potentially damaging yet innate human characteristic which ultimately assists us to navigate the world and the people in it.  Here are some well-known and well researched examples of social biases that aren’t only applicable to gender:

Like me bias.  This is where a recruiter might meet a candidate that they perceive is like them. For example, they might both be fans of the same football club.  Once that has been established, the recruiter will assume the candidate is similar to them and, as such, have a better impression of this candidate compared to the rest of the applicant pool.

Halo effect.  This is where a recruiter’s judgement about a candidate (either negative or positive) is applied to other areas of the applicant’s candidature.  For example, if a candidate is perceived as attractive by the recruiter, they might subconsciously attribute other positive traits such as intelligence and education to that candidate also. 

Stereotyping.  This is where the recruiter anticipates the candidate will perform in a certain way based on preconceived ideals. For example, the recruiter may have formed a mental representation about what type of candidate should do the required role.  If a candidate is perceived as the wrong ‘fit’ because of an external factor (gender, age, race, background) they may be unsuccessful.

The solution: How can we reduce gender bias?

Strive hard to reach a 50/50 split of male and female candidates.  Make sure you’re marketing your business as an equal opportunity employer to attract a variety of top talent.

Try blind interviewing. This is where all identifying information about candidates is removed from the screening stage of the recruitment process and as such, removes the chance of unconscious bias at the outset.

Provide your interviewers with thorough training on structured and behavioural interviews so that all candidates are treated equally.

Avoid using gendered words in position descriptions and during interviews. For example, Chairman, salesman etc.

Implement unconscious bias training workshops and help your employees be aware of their biases.

Implement psychometric testing as part of the recruitment process. They are one of the most objective measures of a candidate’s cognitive capability, personality and potential