By Michelle Hendelman, Editor-in-Chief
Familiarity is comforting, especially at work. Affiliations and similarities can go a long way in the office, but when does bonding in the break room over a shared alma mater or hometown become a hindrance to corporate diversity? Hiring managers and key decision makers in the hiring process meet a lot of talented individuals who each meet the requirements on paper, so how do they decide who gets the job or the promotion? Could affinity trump achievement? Let’s hope not.
There is a lot of focus right now on the role of unconscious bias in hiring and career advancement. This is the idea that underlying perceptions may cause leaders to favor the dominant group when making decisions about hiring, promoting, or any other factor that impacts an individual’s professional advancement. The subtle nature of unconscious bias makes it difficult to prove, but scientists are actually working on tests, like the Implicit Association test created by Dr. Mahzarin Banaji, professor of social ethics at Harvard University, that identify and address the hidden biases that impact our behavior.