New research from Cornell University finds new way to reduce hiring bias

Everyone has some level of bias, no matter how well intentioned they may be. That’s why it’s important to identify and overcome biases—to make sure they don’t impact how someone treats another person.

Now, research suggests there may be a new way for employers to reduce the level of unconscious bias in the hiring process.

A paper from Cornell and Duke Universities entitled “Encouraging Self-Blinding in Hiring” found that when given the option to see potentially biasing information about job candidates, hiring managers are more likely to choose not to opt in. Many applicant systems require hiring managers to opt out of seeing the information, which can cause recruiters to consider traits like race, gender, and ethnicity, according to a Cornell Chronicle article.

“We found that having to actively select each piece of information leads individuals to be a little more thoughtful about what they’re selecting,” Sean Fath, assistant professor of organizational behavior at the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations and co-author of the paper, said.

Additionally, when hiring managers were given the option to select information to make visible on behalf of their peers, they chose facts like educational attainment or years of experience. “Participants were less likely to elect to see biasing information when the possibility of bias was relatively transparent,” the article said.

The report pinpoints two takeaways for recruitment teams. First, companies could restructure job applications to allow recruiters to opt in to the type of applicant information they see. Second, they could train hiring managers to help them determine what information they need to make their decisions.

“People tend to think others are more susceptible to bias than they are,” Fath explained, “so they think others shouldn’t receive potentially biasing information.”