Recruitment in today's technology industry: the role of gender and racial prejudice in 2022

In this paper, our research hypothesis is the result. What can we learn from other discoveries? If you are white, you get a job in the technology industry and win the lottery, or so it seems. According to the report on scientific and technological diversity, in the largest scientific and technological companies, men account for 77% to 88% of the total number of employees, and whites account for 40% to 565,438+0%. These figures seem to reveal a grim fact: if you are female or colored, it is much more difficult to find a technical job. In the past, recruiters have cleverly prevented women from applying for scientific and technological jobs. In addition, a study by LinkedIn shows that even if women apply, recruiters are unlikely to pick up their resumes or interview them. The same is true of people of color.

But if you want to get an intermediate position in a technology company, is it still applicable? On the website Planet, we want to test it ourselves. Read on to learn how we tested, what we found, and how companies can do better through inclusive recruitment practices. Our research hypothesis is simple. Considering the previous research results, we expect to find that white men will get more positive responses when applying for intermediate scientific and technological jobs than any other group. Generally speaking, whites get more positive responses than other races.

We conducted tests in three different cities: Washington, D.C., Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts, Omaha and Nebraska. Since the first two cities are usually described as "liberal" (so they may be more inclined to hire women or people of color), we also include a city dominated by conservatives.

We made six fictional resumes for six people, one male and one female, from Caucasian, African-American and Latino. The education and employment background of each resume are the same. But the name is different, and every resume has a photo of the applicant, so his or her race is obvious.

This process enables researchers on the website Planet to measure gender and racial differences in the responses received. Every resume has a phone number and an e-mail address, so we can easily track phone calls and e-mail replies.

At the same time, we studied 100 technical posts in each city and sent resumes to them, including junior and senior developers, web designers, administrators and product managers.

We apply within three days of receiving each job list, send six resumes to each vacant position, and then wait for three weeks so that we can monitor the results. For each application, we track positive and negative responses, as well as email and telephone communication.

As a result, are our assumptions correct? Here's what we learned:

Suppose # 1_ false _ white women win the recruitment game. We think that white men will get more positive responses than any other group, but we are wrong.

In Washington, D.C., among 65,438+000 applications, white women received the most calls (9) and the most replies (22). The second most successful woman is a Hispanic woman. She received eight phone calls and got 1 1 positive responses. African-American women, African-American men and white men each received 1 1 positive responses, although African-American women received five calls, while African-American men and white men only received four. Latino men scored the lowest, with only five positive responses, including four phone calls.

Although whites have the highest comprehensive score compared with other races, there are still gender differences. The positive rate of white women was 22.83%, and that of white men was 16.3%. The proportion of African-American women who received positive response was 17.03%, while the proportion of African-American men was 15.58%. The positive rate of Latino females was 15.58%, and that of Latino males was 12.68%.

There is another interesting discovery in other findings. The four job roles received the most responses, both positive and negative, which indicated that these skills were very popular. The most advanced developers got the complete answer. 7.7. The most advanced developer of Noscript got the complete answer. 7.7. The top developers of NoScript got a complete answer from the developers-7.37%.

Interestingly, the role of software developer attracts the most negative reactions. This may mean that recruiters are more picky and hire the right developers according to their own needs.

What can we learn from it? Surprisingly, the research on Planet website contradicts other research on recruitment in the technology industry. Our data show that it is easier for women to get middle-level scientific and technological positions than you think. Of course, this does not mean that they are currently well represented at the top. Obviously, Hispanic women have also made progress in this respect, while Hispanic men lag behind other male counterparts.

To some extent, the position is very important when applying for intermediate technical positions, but the result is surprising. In Boston/Cambridge, white women responded most positively, as did Latin American women, but in Omaha, African-American women responded most positively.

This contradicts many people's expectations of recruitment practice in more conservative fields. African-Americans and white men responded most positively in Omaha, while Latin American men responded better in Boston/Cambridge.

Our research shows that it is more difficult for men to obtain intermediate technical positions than you think. If men are African-American, especially Latino, their chances will decline.

How can the company do better? How can technology companies become more inclusive in recruitment practice? Here are some suggestions.

Pay attention to your unconscious prejudice against people's names, ages, genders and races. Don't be sad-almost everyone has it. Outline the really important criteria in recruitment, such as experience, skills, etc. By using the same question-and-answer scorecard, ensure that these are the only criteria used in recruitment. Include all kinds of interviewers in your group. Before evaluating your resume, please consider deleting your identity information (a bit like the usual way of working in literary competitions). This will prevent you from following the clues that lead to the recruitment deviation. When recruiting, don't just look at people who conform to your existing culture; Look for people who are willing to enrich it with new things. This makes the way of hiring assets more diversified, rather than making people feel indebted. Suggestions for Creating a Resume Here are some suggestions to help you get a resume of a job, regardless of your gender or race. Keep your professional summary short and focused. Make sure it is related to the key qualities that technical recruiters are looking for, including anything that really makes you stand out. Including related skills and software. This is very important because many companies are using job seeker tracking software, because if you don't use these keywords, your resume may not appear in front of a person. It even deserves to include basic knowledge. In the same way, you must use industry-related keywords. Start with the job advertisement itself, and then extend it to related advertisements and resume templates to ensure that your resume is suitable for search. Go beyond your role and outline your achievements and the techniques and tools you use to accomplish key tasks. This will make you a versatile employee and an excellent employee. Delete photos. Unconscious prejudice (even unconscious discrimination) is a real factor. If your face, gender and race are not suitable, you may be eliminated.