Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: An overview of anonymized recruiting

With 95% of human decisions being subconscious, cognitive biases often factor into our decision-making, and the hiring process is no exception. This can, in part, be attributed to the mental shortcuts (heuristics) that the human brains take when processing information quickly and this is particularly acute during the longlisting phase, where recruiters are required to produce a large number of high-quality decisions. A promising approach for tackling this is resume/CV anonymization, where potentially biasing information is redacted from CVs, cover letters and any supporting document before the longlisting phase. Over the last five years, the use of anonymous hiring policies has skyrocketed, and now many global organizations, such as Deloitte, HSBC, and KPMG have some sort of anonymization during the hiring process. In this report, we discuss DE&I, cognitive biases, and CV/resume anonymization in detail, and we review the scientific literature on anonymization processes, concluding that there is tentative evidence to suggest its efficacy in improving the diversity of workplace hires.

Sections:

  • An introduction to DE&I

  • A neurological overview of cognitive biases

  • The impact of cognitive biases on hiring decisions

  • How anonymize recruiting addresses DE&I challenges

  • Evidence on the efficacy of anonymization in increasing diversity

 
 
 

Download now!

By clicking the "Download" button, you are agreeing to the MeVitae Privacy Policy.