Exeter project

BIG IDEAs

Does blind recruiting work best in certain areas of an organization, or as a blanket policy? What information should be redacted in order to make sure bias is not disadvantaging the top talent?

MeVitae has partnered with the BIG IDEAs project, hosted by the University of Exeter Business School, to understand best practices in blind recruiting through randomized controlled trials.

The BIG IDEAs (Behavioural Insights: Gender, Inclusivity, Diversity, Equality and Access) Initiative is funded by the UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowship and hosted at the University of Exeter Business School. The project leverages learnings from across economics, psychology, and management to design and test interventions in large-scale randomised controlled trials at leading organisations across the globe. These interventions will lead to a better working knowledge of how we create more fairness in the workplace through observing and working with actual hiring, promotion, and retention outcomes of disadvantaged groups.

The BIG IDEAs initiative is already working with key organisations who are at the forefront of developing fairer workplaces.

Current Opportunity

This project involves really getting to the bottom of how hiring is affected by the all-important CV – how do seemingly unimportant facts about applicants affect their chances, and can blinding those details reduce bias? Does blind hiring work best in certain areas of an organisation or as a blanket policy? What information should be redacted in order to make sure bias is not disadvantaging the top talent?

The goal is to use the cutting-edge research tools to answer these questions, using the latest data science and the use of randomised controlled trials.

We are looking for organisations that want to join us to help pioneer best practice for hiring diverse, talented, and productive staff members.

Participating organisations will have the unique opportunity to trial MeVitae’s blind recruiting solution at minimal cost, and find out how it can help optimise decision making in their organisation.

Learn more about this opportunity here.

If you are interested in this exciting initiative, please reach out to Professor Oliver Hauser at o.hauser@exeter.ac.uk and Riham Satti at riham.satti@mevitae.com to set up an initial meeting.