How can a fair selection of applicants be achieved without discrimination? We show inspiration and examples.
What do you think – who has it easier in the application process:
Sandra Bauer or Meryem Öztürk?
(Image source: Weichselbaumer, Doris (2016), Multiple Discrimination against Female Immigrants Wearing Headscarves.)
The two fictional characters are part of an experiment in the context of Doris Weichselbaumer’s scientific work “Multiple Discrimination against Female Immigrants Wearing Headscarves” (to work).
The result:
In 18,8 % of the cases was Sandra Bauer invited to an interview.
Meryem Ozturk received in only 13,5 % of cases an invitation.
And this despite the fact that the CV was always the same – even the application photos were the same.
In a third scenario, Meryem Öztürk with headscarf can be seen on her application photo, she received in just 4,2 % of the cases an invitation. Cover letter and CV were again identical to those of Sandra Bauer or Meryem Öztürk without a headscarf.
Eine Studie über „Diskriminierung am Ausbildungsmarkt“ von der Bosch-Stiftung zeigt Ähnliches. Ihr zufolge wurden „Jugendliche mit türkischen Namen seltener zum Vorstellungsgespräch eingeladen als Bewerber mit einem deutschen Namen und erhielten auch häufiger eine direkte Absage“.
The fact is that discrimination occurs in recruiting. Applicants with foreign-sounding names, headscarves or different skin colors, but also women, are repeatedly consciously or unconsciously sorted out by recruiters despite having the same qualifications.
From Diversity Management to public positioning: Whoever sees discrimination in MR and recruiting, there are various options that we have summarized below.
Recruiter können zunächst einmal bei sich selbst anfangen. Einerseits, indem sie sich ihre Position vor Augen halten: Die meisten Recruiter in Deutschland passen in das Muster „weiß und privilegiert“ und befinden sich in einer gewissen „Machtposition“, in der sie über die berufliche Zukunft von anderen Personen (mit)entscheiden.
On the other hand, they should draw attention to their working methods and thought patterns – for example, by asking questions such as: “Do I (unconsciously) evaluate candidates based on discriminatory characteristics?” Such a reflection process can be encouraged through targeted training and raising awareness among employees and managers in the company.
It can also be useful to discuss the topic with other recruiters: For example, there is a campaign “Love HR hate Racism“, where like-minded people from the HR sector network and take a stand against racism.
Diversity in a company is characterized by a diverse pool of employees with different cultures, languages and beliefs. In order to bring diversity into the team, the link between recruiting and diversity management is an important adjustment screw. The task consists, among other things, of checking search criteria and strategies to see whether they exclude people and therefore need to be adjusted if necessary.
In many companies Diversity management measures has so far been assigned a subordinate role. However, diversity can, for example, ensure a productive interaction of a wide range of skills, a positive company image and more creative exchange, from which the entire company benefits.
Many modern recruiting tools rely on functions that counteract discrimination. For example, SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting advertises “language scans to avoid prejudice in job advertisements”. Our potential analysis platform flynne enables a largely anonymous application process that deliberately ignores discriminatory factors such as gender, age, origin and skin colour.
But: Technical solutions and Artificial intelligence can help in the fight against discrimination, but you can also create it yourself. More information on the danger of discrimination through algorithms can be found in a variety of articles. For example, by Felicitas Wilke on Time.de and Dr. Daniel Mühlbauer in a guest article at Persoblogger.
Another way to deal with the issue of discrimination is to speak out against it openly. This is what speaker and HR blogger Henner Knabenreich does on his blog Personalmarketing2Zero – he clearly states that right-wing parties like the AfD should not be given a platform on job exchanges and the like. Or Eva Stock, who HR is not a crime writes about the responsibility of HR in times of right-wing abysses.
Such public positions inspire others to take a stand as well. They also draw attention to the issue.
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Do you have other ideas, experiences or tips on how to ensure a fair selection of applicants without discrimination? Please leave us a comment.
(Cover photo source: Stefano Garau – Shutterstock.com)
