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- Have a resume anonymizer that removes names from the resume and reveals them only after you decide to being in for an interview or not
- Avoid lengthy, unpaid take-homes that are ridiculous regardless of diversity, but also are difficult for single parents or multi-job holders to complete
Many studies have shown that anonymizing applications has a positive effect, like noted in this article. https://hbr.org/2020/03/research-to-reduce-gender-bias-anonymize-job-applications
Of course, this doesn't cover other factors that lead to underrepresentation so it's not fair to expect that you'll never get homogeneous candidates out of it. That doesn't mean that the only way to hire diverse candidates is to lower the bar. Oftentimes the bar is higher for diverse candidates (also noted in that article), so assuming that they would (all) automatically benefit from mentoring/education, while the go to, is flawed and can be patronizing. (Oftentimes what's needed is more opportunities and sponsorship, rather than remedial learning, but I don't have that article on hand...)
Remember to verify whether your requirements are actually required. If you’re hiring software engineers at most SaaS companies, you don’t actually need a CS (or any!) 4-year degree; you need to be able to do the work. Some of the most brilliant and kind programmers I’ve worked with have never gone to college, or dropped out, or majored in Classics.
Remember that “culture fit” is often a way of excusing similarity bias. (I think referral bonuses factor into this, to be honest!)
Remember to look for candidates where they may be (across communities, websites, even geographies), not just where you already are.
Be clear about your interview processes, internally and externally, to the extent possible. They’re ripe for introducing biases accidentally.
You could try this method...
Define equitable please
Chief
So hire unqualified people along with qualified ones to meet quotas? That's pretty simple, just ignore the results of the interview and hire based on the quota criteria.
As a minority, I hate the idea of hiring minorities just to fill a quota, and not hiring based on actual qualifications. I work amongst so many low performers that do so poorly they are actually making a negative impact on our service and efficiency metrics.... all for the sake of making sure we are balanced in terms of male/female and ethnicity. As a female minority I realize that may be a hot take but I find it incredibly frustrating.
This is a really good resource aimed at answering exactly this kind of question.
http://projectinclude.org/recommendations/