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346 items in D&I
We know there is name bias on CV review, but what is the distribution of discrimination? Are there some sectors, companies and jobs which have varying levels of name bias? And does the bias vary according to what identity your name signifies? Fascinating advancement of the conversation of name discrimination - have a listen. H/T to Bas van de Haterd for the share
Issue #393 published 21 Apr 2024
Interesting research from S&P Global on the state of gender parity at exec / board level in the US. 2023 had plenty of victims, and it seems women execs can be considered another group. Falls into the same pattern as wider D&I initiatives - all good when the times were good, but as soon as soon as we need to do ‘more with less’ the commitment disappears. Summary here, full research here
Issue #393 published 21 Apr 2024
The world is full of D&I reports but this one is particularly interesting for a number of reasons: it focuses on candidate perception of bias, ranks biases according to the same perceptions, and includes nuances such as accent and appearance bias so frequently missing from the conversation. Great job from our friends at Tribepad. Ungated so download it here
Issue #393 published 21 Apr 2024
ATS provider iCIMS produce monthly Workforce Insights reports which draw on behavioural data from the thousands of employers they have on platform. Some intriguing insights especially on D&I, with validation on what most of us probably already know is the case: women spend more time on career sites, but make less applications than men.
Issue #391 published 7 Apr 2024
This is an interesting conversation on D&I on multiple levels - in the end, the host and guest conclude that Goldman Sachs stated ambition of promoting women to top jobs was about optics, and now having failed to create credible internal successor from the women partners in the company, the optics are really bad. Give it a listen, found myself with plenty of brainfood. H/T to brainfooder Bas van de Haterd for the share
Issue #389 published 24 Mar 2024
How many generations are in your workplace? Apparently in 2025, it will be the first time we will have 5 generational organisations - the kind of diversity which brings both opportunity and reward. Being able to create a workplace in which people from different generations feel included, will obviously have an impact on talent attraction. Really nice piece of research here from The Adaptavist Group for anyone looking to get there, H/T to brainfooder Alexandra Stone for the share.
Issue #388 published 17 Mar 2024
Issue #388 published 17 Mar 2024
Neurodiversity has become last years diversity topic, so welcome to see some more content coming up highlighting issues facing the Neurodiversity. The conversations in this short video exposes how optimised for the neurotypical conventional recruitment processes really are. H/T to brainfooder Clive Smart for the share.
Issue #386 published 3 Mar 2024
Society wide re-skilling is required for Singapore to survive, says MP Tan Wu Meng. Impressive 20 minutes speech from a politician who grasps the deep implications of technological innovation on energy, society and politics. Worth a watch, particularly on the need for mid-career re-skilling.
Issue #386 published 3 Mar 2024
That software engineering is one of the most AI exposed disciplines is an irony not lost on anyone, not least the engineers themselves. This is an advanced piece of research on how engineers think about ‘AI Skill Threat’, seen through the lens of both gender and ethnic diversity. The findings are intriguing - under represented groups feel most threatened by AI and (perhaps therefore), rate AI generated code as least valuable in their work. We can sympathise with the fear, but it is head-in-sand stuff that we have to resist, because denialism has significant implications for the future workforce diversity in an AI-enabled world. Very interesting reading - download the full report here
Issue #384 published 22 Feb 2024
Well here is an ill thought out ‘solution’ to a lack of diversity - just make up fake people to deflect the opprobrium. This story is a sad and outrageous example of where rhetoric fails to meet reality. None of this was GAI by the way - just old school fake LinkedIn profiles etc - and we can imagine that we might get to a point where GAI will be used to disguise lack of visible diversity. H/T to brainfooder Luke Davis for the share in the online community
Issue #374 published 10 Dec 2023
One of the social innovations which we might need to invest more thought into is job sharing - having more than one person do a full time role. This is especially important for workforce diversity, where many more women work part time than men and might otherwise be denied opportunity or lost to the labour market, for want of opportunities compatible with lifestyle. Think also of older workers - if we are all to extend the retirement age, it might make sense to understand that 67 year old might prefer 20 hours rather than 40 hours per week. Interested to know if any members have a formal job share programme - let me know if you have!
Issue #373 published 3 Dec 2023
Meta analysis of 44 field studies over the past 50 years tracking gender bias on hiring decisions. Some intriguing findings such as the progressive decline of gender bias against female candidates to male-dominated career paths, but also the stability of gender bias against male candidates to female-dominated career paths. Interpretation of the report is a fair reading of the material, which you can also access yourself here
Issue #371 published 19 Nov 2023
Issue #369 published 5 Nov 2023
Latimer.ai
D&I
The concern that Generative AI will produce bias outcomes is probably the most conspicuous challenge for the wider adoption of the technology. Is the solution to train AI on intentionally different data sets? Latimer might the first to try this solution - give a shot folks, let me know how the outputs compare to ChatGPT. H/T to brainfooder Petar Vujosevic for the share.
Issue #368 published 29 Oct 2023
Reminded of a really important talk by brainfooder Glen Cathey at Recfest USA - on the ‘extravert’ advantage, especially when it comes to career progression. Seems like there is some decent science behind it, which would be amusing if it wasn’t so unjust. Introducing the ‘Babble Hypothesis’ of leadership - turns out we are simply hard wired to follow those who dominate the chat. Implications for recruiting? Plenty.
Issue #367 published 22 Oct 2023
Image generators are probably the most egregious examples bias in AI. This is brilliantly described in this post, which takes us through a visual journey of what would be generated with a basic prompt technique. We can’t just blame AI - it has been pre-trained on existing images, which have themselves been selected for by human beings wanting to confirm a stereotype. AI might indeed ‘flatten’ the world into 2D simplifications, that it is doing so on bedrock already being flattened, by us.
Issue #366 published 15 Oct 2023
The decline in women's participation in STEM may be partly attributed to the broader decline in female workforce participation brought on by the pandemic.
If Covid-19 does turn out to be a mass debilitating event, we might be able to draw a dotted line from it to the regression of women in STEM. Some relationship with shift to remote also - no surprise that Electrical Engineering - a job which typically requires onsite - has the most skewed gender ratios. Zero info on methodology though, and some inevitable cherry picking of the data. Wish we could make it mandatory for raw data to be supplied along with insight. Have a read, neverthelessPS: Brainfood Live this Friday, on this topic. Register here
Issue #365 published 8 Oct 2023
I posted a LinkedIn poll on this issue a few weeks ago, and it was picked up by our friends at Workable, who wrote a great wrapper post around the results explaining what is or is not permissible when it comes to diversity hiring. US context of course, this will vary region by region, but a useful in navigating the legal guardrails when setting D & I policies. We also can’t avoid the hard questions - have we created a situation which is actively hostile to white male candidates? No bueno if so..
Issue #365 published 8 Oct 2023
Age-ism is real but so is age and we need to be candidly talk about each, without equivocation, caveat or fear of repercussion. I’m thankful we have writers like brainfooder Laeitita Vitaud who can navigate these themes in a manner which invites debate - this is exceptional essay which points toward a way in which we might recognise biological reality whilst eroding obsolete stereotypes at the same time. Another must read folks (and Laetitia is a must follow, subscribe to her newsletter)
Issue #364 published 1 Oct 2023
Issue #363 published 24 Sep 2023
Reinforcement Learning by Human Feedback (RLHF) is important component of pre-training AI, particularly in the reduction of hallucinations by GPT’s. It mainly consists of humans clicking Y/N on outputs - a mind numbingly repetitive job which, in the case of Finland, is occasionally performed by prison labour. An interesting ethical conundrum - at what point does providing legal routes to economy become the exploitation of slave labour?
Issue #362 published 17 Sep 2023
Issue #360 published 3 Sep 2023
Issue #360 published 3 Sep 2023
Is affirmative action over in the US? Not so fast, says brainfooder Gerry Crispin who points out the recent Supreme Court decision is narrow scope for only two academic institutions and that it does not necessarily follow for other institutions much less corporate America. Interesting times for DEIB in the US - whatever your position on the impact of this case, an audit and adjustment makes good sense, so good news that Gerry has provided recommendations
Issue #359 published 27 Aug 2023
Issue #359 published 27 Aug 2023
Being on an employer dependent visa makes employees indentured to that employer, perversely making them more attractive to employers who want to roll with the hire and fire approach. We’re seeing this in our own industry where community members find themselves having a desperately short timeline to find a new job in case of redundancy. Great explainer video on how H1B’s work, from the immigrant workers POV
Issue #357 published 13 Aug 2023
Age-ism is real (we’re doing a Brainfood Live on this next month, register here), but we’re not going to solve the inequity that come from it by denying the reality that different life experiences don’t create different preponderances. Nuanced and valuable conversation on generational stereotypes from McKinsey, impressive straight talking from the guests. Have a listen
Issue #357 published 13 Aug 2023
Issue #357 published 13 Aug 2023
A fascinating three-part series from Freakonomics Podcast on commercial whaling, which had this segue on how racial diversity both negatively and positively impacted whalers performance. Turned out, that racially homogenous crews outperformed diverse ones, at least in the first voyages, as incidence of internecine conflict were lower, before going on to outperform them in later voyages as the crew members worked out how to get along. Education and entertaining listen.
Issue #356 published 6 Aug 2023
Culture war in the US has become manifest in the law, with implications for DEIB practices at the corporate level. HBR with a well argued call for calm, as well as recommendations for action: an audit of existing DEIB practices in order to reduce litigation risk and a professionalisation of practice to eliminate de facto quotas. Important one for our US brainfooders - have a read here
Issue #356 published 6 Aug 2023
New analysis from employment data provider Live Data Technologies shows that chief diversity officers have been more vulnerable to layoffs than their human resources counterparts, experiencing 40% higher turnover. Their job searches are also taking longer.
Diversity was - alongside with tech recruiter - one of the hottest jobs in the market 2 years ago but as we are beginning to understand, the world is spinning faster than any of us can really hope to keep up with. Big tech winter, focus on profitability, roll back of affirmative action in the US, and a discernible reaction against progressive politics means tougher times for the Chief Diversity Officer. What are your thoughts on this - worth a Brainfood Live to discuss? H/T to brainfooder Rob Dromgoole for the share in the online community
Issue #355 published 30 Jul 2023
The second order effects of last week’s US Supreme Court ruling against race conscious applicant assessment might be seen early in the legality of mandatory diversity statements. Again, still in academia but has become a phenomena in the corporate world also, where executives might be expected to sign up to DEIB commitments as a de facto condition of getting the job. Diversity of race or diversity of opinions? It’s a contest of which is more important. Thought provoking and challenging read.
Issue #352 published 9 Jul 2023
The ongoing culture war in the US shines are light on different philosophical approaches in handling inequity in society, namely, is more or less information on applicants the best way to create fairer assessment and acceptance conditions? Worth thinking about as this ruling cascades through academia, with downstream impact on DEIB at company level. And given US outsized influence on the propagation of cultural values, toward everyone else. Might be worth another Brainfood Live on this, perhaps a cross cultural comparison on how different countries handle DEIB - let me know if you think this is a good idea.
Issue #351 published 2 Jul 2023
Issue #348 published 11 Jun 2023
Issue #346 published 28 May 2023
Issue #344 published 14 May 2023
Issue #343 published 7 May 2023
Only US born citizens (White) who are local within 60 miles of Dallas, TX [Don’t share with candidates]
A snippet from an internal memo which accidentally made it’s way in a public job advert or a deliberate piece of misinformation planted to damage the reputation of the staffing firm, Arthur Grand Technologies? The recruitment firm posted a rebuttal, which has now been removed, and claim to be pursuing a legal case against what they say is an unauthorised post. My unsatisfactory take on this unsavoury issue here
Issue #339 published 9 Apr 2023
Conversations on gender equity has been focused on equalising the male domination of STEM fields, but has that led us to ignore the female domination of many other fields, such as healthcare and education? Brainfooder Laetitia Vitaud (one of the leading feminist future of work thinkers out there btw) certainly thinks so and suggests getting more men into these fields might be solution to persistent candidate shortages there. Incidentally, we should note that many fields of work currently dominated by women are likely to be more resilient than those dominated by men in an AI dis-intermediated future ( ‘future of work is female’ theory) - and this is likely to be a component as to which career paths become the most attractive for any gender to pursue.
Issue #337 published 26 Mar 2023
Big changes in the US college system, with leading universities beginning to drop standardised assessments in an effort to remove bias and improve diversity of the student population. Critics are pouring in, especially as legacy admissions remain in place, with this piece by Rob Henderson an exemplar of the category. The debate seamlessly transplants into recruiting - hire best person for the job (irrespective of demography) or does the make up of the existing workforce influence who should hired? This used to be straight forward decision, but no longer.
Issue #335 published 12 Mar 2023
Fascinating legal case in Australia, where a plaintiff is making the case that pensions should be variable based on life expectancy. Sounds radical at first, but it doesn’t take long for it to make sense, particularly in the area of gender - men die sooner, yet in many countries must retire later, so spend a far greater portion of their lives at work vs retired. Hard to know where this one will end up, but its brainfood for sure.
Issue #335 published 12 Mar 2023
Wonderful post by brainfooder Yasar Ahmad on what Ramadan is and it how impacts Muslim colleagues. It’s happening in a months time and something close to a quarter of the world’s population will be undergoing dawn to dusk fast, which includes prohibition on drinking water during that period. Hadn’t realised how tough this was - and as TA / HR professionals who care about employee well being, candidate experience and talent assessment - we need to factor Ramadan into our considerations when working with Muslim colleagues and candidates. This post is worth distributing widely.
Issue #334 published 5 Mar 2023
Fascinating long read on something all UK folks might already know - the ‘City’ is full of social elites who ‘look and sound the part’. Not just a banker bashing piece, there is nuance here in why elitism is entrenched, despite (genuine I think) belief that talent does indeed come from every background, and its because of an approximate to the old IBM rule - nobody got fired for hiring a posh OxBridge graduate. Stark example of social class as a diversity issue.
Issue #333 published 26 Feb 2023
Black History Month brings us a Radancy US Labour Market update special, with a focus on Black Americans in the workforce. Most striking statistic is income inequality by racial group - 11.3% of all Black Americans are making less than $10,000 per year. Persistent inequality remains one of the core challenges in multi-racial society and yet is always lower in the agenda of powerful than it should be. When will it change? Can it change. It surely must
Issue #333 published 26 Feb 2023
Are tech layoffs really layoffs of tech workers? Increasing evidence to suggest that its not the engineers are feeling the brunt of the cuts, but other departments around the business (including HR/TA). Diversity implications of this, is explore in this conversation in Geekwire.
Issue #331 published 12 Feb 2023
The politicisation of DEIB is most acute in the US, where it is pretty explicitly a front for culture war. US members please give us greater nuance on my reading, but it appears that the state of Texas may be moving to ban the use of diversity measures in hiring, presumably putting TA / HR to continue to commit to DEIB into murky grey water of illegal discrimination. Will this lead to labour migration on political and cultural lines at some point? Think this needs a Brainfood Live at some point.
Issue #331 published 12 Feb 2023
Significant report from the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics which measures the composition of the US STEM workforce and its change over time. Diversification is on trend but disparities remain clear. You have to wonder what the impact of GAI will be to these numbers - will it accelerate diversification by distributing access to STEM know how, or will it reduce the absolute need for STEM workers as it absorbs increasing amounts of the knowledge work? Maybe it will be both. Worth a download, especially for our US members.
Issue #330 published 5 Feb 2023
One the consequences of the ‘shift to remote’ is the increase in distance between the working and middle class; simply put, the less you need to leave your house to work, the less contact you will have with people do need to leave their house to work. We have no idea how this trend will impact our political economy, but something to keep front of mind as we see extended industrial action in UK for better pay, in France against retirement age review and elsewhere. This video documentary series on the US working class, is important viewing.
Issue #328 published 22 Jan 2023
What if gender inequality reemerges, but from the other way round? An interesting question but one which is no longer hypothetical as throughout WEIRD countries everywhere, girls outperform boys in education and now increasingly, in the workplace. Some radical solutions suggested, including startling enough - starting boys schooling later. Important watch if you care about DEIB, 15 minutes
Issue #327 published 15 Jan 2023
The dominance of the United States in modern communications technology has transported the English language into every corner of the Internet, perhaps one of the most profound and underestimated cultural phenomena of our times. This experiment conducted by a recruiter who anglicised her name and measured the improvements in output is a small illustration of the power and privilege of being the default. A practical example to follow and a case study of bias of to be aware of! PS: interested to know of other experiments of this type - might be a good one for a Brainfood Live
Issue #326 published 8 Jan 2023
Attractive Female Students No Longer Earned Higher Grades When Classes Moved Online During COVID-19
D&I
A fascinating consequence of a shift to remote might be the equalisation of aesthetic appeal. This study from the University of Lund tracked student grades correlated with ‘a beauty rating’ and found that positive bias for the better looking disappeared with the shift to remote. Implications for recruiting should be obvious. Accessible summary here, the full study itself is only a 5 pager and downloadable here.
Issue #326 published 8 Jan 2023
Final part of the ‘true inclusion’ mini series on the hidden biases in hiring; last week, Adam and I had the pleasure of speaking with Sara Dalsfelt, Carly Poulson, Rebecca Collis and Leanne Redstone sharing experience and insight on the pressures of job search and promotion as a mother-to-be, and what we as organisations must do to equalise the playing field. Have a listen
Issue #323 published 18 Dec 2022
Brainfooder Petar Vujosevic does really interesting work, diving deeper into topics to uncover hidden problems, and perhaps, reveal hidden solutions. We know that there is gender variance in how we experience mental illness, so why do we have a universal approach for mental well being? Perhaps a contributing factor to disproportionately high male suicide rate is that our prescriptions suit men less than they do for women. Fascinating conjecture, some data to look deeper into it. PS:perhaps an increasingly important phenomena as it appears that psychology - for reasons unknown - is increasingly becoming feminised.
Issue #323 published 18 Dec 2022
Second week in a row where I am promoting my own podcast, the reason being that yet again this is a topic which I feel is massively under discussed. Feedback from the livestream has been humbling - so many people impacted by pervasive class-ism, especially in the UK. We talk about it, share experiences and even come up with a few ideas we can use to mitigate it. Thank you for listening
Issue #322 published 11 Dec 2022
Excellent and accessible guide on Inclusive Recruitment from the CIPD. I particularly like the combination of ‘more information’ (targeted ads for under represented groups), with ‘less information’ (anonymised applications) at different moments in the recruiting process. Local legislative constraints aside, I suspect this is the way to do it. H/T to brainfooder David D’Souza for the share. Website here, download the pdf here
Issue #321 published 4 Dec 2022
Adam Grant with a who’s who list of celebrities how diversity of mind can unlock innovation commonly blocked by adherence of process and hierarchy. The fine line between ‘disrupting the status quo’ and straight up destruction is not explored however; I suspect this doesn’t become clear until we have the outcome.
Issue #320 published 27 Nov 2022
18 Years A Transient – My Journey Through the American Immigration System as a Computer Engineer
D&I
Layoffs affect immigrant workers on an employer dependent visa much more than most, leaving people with mere weeks to find alternative sponsor before being deported from the country, along with their families. The brutally crude cuts made by Elon Musk at the Twitter workforce made me think particularly about this demographic, which led me in turn to this incredible account of a computer engineer whose journey to US citizenship took 18 years to complete. Lots to think about here - do we factor in impact-for-employee when making redundancies, and how we can we make it easier for motivated people to become citizens of countries where they work, pay taxes and add value to society.
Issue #320 published 27 Nov 2022
Stack Overflow have kind of fallen off the recruitment radar since they closed their recruiting business, but a community of millions of software developers doesn’t become irrelevant just because you can’t advertise to them any more. This is an example of that value - great interview with the neuro-atypical and what they can bring to the organisation. Have a listen.
Issue #317 published 17 Nov 2022
Important time in the US for DEIB, as the US Supreme Court considers two cases which may bring an end to diversity targets based on ethnic background at US college and University admissions. Such practice is already prohibited in UK (and most of Europe I believe), but long held in the US as the best method to create a student body representative of the general population. Problem is, positive discrimination for one, means negative discrimination for another. BBC overview here, James Martin Center argument here
Issue #317 published 17 Nov 2022
Interesting findings, as ever, from reports of this scale. Particularly striking? Reasons women cited for leaving a company (section 2), with requirement for greater workforce flexibility being a prominent factor. You are going to lose your women workers if you do not provide flexible working. H/T to brainfooder Nathan Perrott for the share.
Issue #315 published 23 Oct 2022
I suspect we don’t talk enough about motherhood in our industry - certainly, we don’t know enough about it - especially men. A few of my friends recently became mothers for the first time and this article caught my attention, especially on the enormous neurobiological changes that occur for women who become mothers. Do we cater or design for this at all in our work and organisations? A Brainfood Live topic might be useful I think.
Issue #314 published 16 Oct 2022
This is fascinating study, on the impact of appearance on a creators potential success on the most dynamic creator platform out there, TikTok. The answer is what we might expect, which leads us to another challenge in recruiting - how do we deal with ‘lookism’ when we seem to inherently prefer better looking people? Cameras off isn’t a solution, but we better come up with something.
Issue #313 published 9 Oct 2022
So this might be the best thing I’ve watched on multi-generational workforce. Dr Eliza Filby has a unique facility for communication, handling intellectual topics with concision whilst always making sure to connect it with concrete reality. This is superb occupational anthropology. Must watch.
Issue #312 published 2 Oct 2022
Brainfooder Roy Baladi is one of those humans who consistently makes remarkable contributions to the community. Founder of Jobs for Humanity, here he is explaining the mission of about hiring from underrepresented Communities of Talent, not least the displaced and the formerly incarcerated.
Issue #311 published 25 Sep 2022
As you all know, we are committed to becoming an Anti-Racist/Anti-Oppression company. Layoffs like this can have a more pronounced impact on marginalized communities, so we were particularly focused on ensuring our layoffs – while a business necessity today – were carried out through an Anti-Racist/Anti-Oppression lens
Twilio became the latest of big tech scale ups to announce retrenchment last week, and whilst the CEO announcement struck a compassionate tone, the above rather innocuous sounding paragraph triggered an anti-woke backlash with concerns that a person’s racial identity might be a factor on their job security. An interesting conundrum - as an industry we are committed to diversifying the workforce, but might that mean using redundancies as a way of getting there? CEO Jeff Lawson full announcement here, Fortune have the story from anti-anti-racist lens, and just google Twilio redundancy racism. Uncomfortable brainfood
H/T to brainfooder Simone Missagia for the share
Issue #311 published 25 Sep 2022
Important podcast from brainfooder Laurie Ruettimann on a topic which couldn’t be in conservation anywhere else but the USA - how the rollback of women’s rights impacts our work in HR. Necessary listen.
Issue #309 published 11 Sep 2022
One might have thought that lack of maturity being an issue in bad policing outcomes might be common sense, but it’s only really being had right now. Does it make a difference if the office is 18 vs 28, especially when it comes to using firearms with the authority of the state? Another dimension of difference, which segues into discrimination, which might nevertheless be morally justified. Have a read
Issue #309 published 11 Sep 2022
Sex work is the oldest profession in history. If we’re talking about LinkedIn as a professional platform, sex work has the foundational place in it.
Issue #308 published 4 Sep 2022
The contradictions and challenges of D&I are laid bare in this story of internecine strife between rival groups of Jewish employees at Google. Reading through all of it, it is hard to escape Brian Armstrong’s conclusion that a business should be ‘mission focused’ might be the ocnly path an employer can conscientiously take.
Issue #308 published 4 Sep 2022
Talking about accents, it is only one of the many markers of the perhaps only bias that really matters for the elite - social class. Anyone who has ever felt a little out of place in a group context would resonate with some of the vignettes in this well written semi-fictional account of a startup social. We need to talk about social class more, a very real issue in startup, a very real issue in DEIB across industry. Expect a Brainfood Live on it in Q3
Issue #307 published 28 Aug 2022
Fascinating story of a technology which can eliminate how accents are heard, in real time and it’s rather discomforting use case in off-shored call centres, which I think boils down to the ethical conundrum of tricking someone to abandon their prejudice. The technology is called Sanas, the article on the call centre is well worth a read here. H/T to brainfooder Bas van de Haterd for the share.
Issue #307 published 28 Aug 2022
‘Sticks and stones will break my bones but words can never hurt me…’ . Never true was it eh kids? 🤣
Criticism is painful because we are evolved to avoid doing things that draw it. Problematic for a world where we need diversity of voices, and where aggressive policing of consensus can quickly become indoctrination. Have a read and think.
Issue #306 published 21 Aug 2022
If there is one thing we know about diversity and inclusion, is that we humans are endlessly creative in the ways in which we exclude the other. One of the most interesting cases, which true cultural outsiders might well be entirely unaware of, is caste discrimination. And in case we did not think this was an issue, news that another tech giant, Apple, has officially banned caste discrimination in India.
Issue #306 published 21 Aug 2022
A quick copy and paste of this headline into a search engine brings up a host of identikit articles from the UK right wing media, which barely bothers to cover the detail before launching into what is becoming standard ‘anti-woke’ messaging. Slightly more detail from the Guardian tells this problematic story in a different way, that of an organisation working to the KPI’s rather than to the purpose.
Issue #306 published 21 Aug 2022
This is an overly long post but I have to share it because each one of these recommendations will have some value for some business, somewhere. If you are struggling to move from stated goals to actual outcomes, then this post is for you. H/T to brainfooder Michael Blakely for the share
Issue #306 published 21 Aug 2022
The fact that the incredibly difficult task of constructing a global index of over 100+ countries is inevitably going to be a flawed exercise doesn’t mean that the project is without value. WEF makes the effort here - try and look for comparison over time rather the league tables over countries.
Issue #303 published 31 Jul 2022
…and yet failure to take a stand might not only be morally reprehensible but also have real impact on your viability as an employer. It didn’t take long for the US anti-abortion policies to have an effect, especially as the implications differ state by state.
Issue #302 published 24 Jul 2022
Fascinating conversation with Marcus Buckingham, a psychometrician who overcame a stutter to become prominent and effective public speaker. The conversation is about more than Marcus’s personal story though that part resonated with me most, particularly in how our well intentioned efforts to recognise and support variability in performance, may in fact be exacerbating the problem. Great listen. H/T to brainfooder Garry Turner for the share
Issue #301 published 17 Jul 2022
Perhaps the most important single factor which determines your life outcomes - where you live. Beautifully rendered interactive on economic inequity in the United States. I suspect most countries would produce similar results.
Issue #300 published 10 Jul 2022
The intersection between salary transparency and DEIB should now be pretty clear to most of us; more than anything makes the shift inevitable, so this handy how-to from our buddies ChartHop is both timely and useful. H/T to brainfooder Caroline Hunter for the share
Issue #300 published 10 Jul 2022
Given that it’s ok to use slave labour, we might also take some interest as to what happens to those workers when are no longer indentured, which in the US might be as many as 10 million people. Brainfooders Bas van de Haterd and Akbar Karenga on hiring the formerly incarcerated. Have a listen here.
Issue #299 published 3 Jul 2022
Right wing politics can be best understood as a permanent mission to reduce scope of government, and when they succeed in weakening the state, other institutions invariably step up to provide capacity. In the US, with distrust of government in the cultural DNA, this phenomena is perhaps most regularly observed. Culture Amp’s response here to overturning of Roe vs Wade is far from unique.
Issue #299 published 3 Jul 2022
Millions of women have left the formal workforce, with India being an wanted leader in the category. Why has this happened, is this a problem and for whom, and if so, what can be done about it? Have a listen here
Issue #298 published 26 Jun 2022
One of the toughest de-biasing challenges is how someone speaks. In the UK in particular, there are certain prestige accents, and many others which are clear barriers to social and career progress. How to mitigate this, especially seeing as accents likely emerged as a way for humans to establish in-group / out-goup bias? More good stuff from one of the best resources around, BBC Worklife.
Issue #298 published 26 Jun 2022
Last week’s decision by the US Supreme Court is part of a long game to reverse socially progressive values, the opposition to which is the true animus behind right wing nationalism everywhere. It will also have downstream impact on how HR leaders in the US lead and manage teams, communicate to staff - and communicate to candidates. Brainfooder Lars Schmidt with a collection of resources members here might find useful in all of those areas - make full use and contribute others where you can.
Issue #298 published 26 Jun 2022
We often mean different things when we talk about ‘diversity’ so it is refreshing to see the development of the concept ‘global diversity’ - an organisation that is not only ethnically diverse in country but culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse at international scale. H/T to brainfooder Johann Harnoss for his leadership in the production of this report.
Issue #297 published 19 Jun 2022
What drives pay inequity? Turns out mega firms have a disproportionate impact given that they hire a lot of people, in increasingly high paying jobs, which skew towards men (i.e big tech, paying big bucks, to software engineers). Fascinating post, which goes one level further down on what drives pay distribution. Must read folks.
Issue #296 published 12 Jun 2022
Corporate boards must have at least 40% seats occupied by women in 2026 - European Commission confirms political alignment between all 27 member states in last week’s ruling on gender equity. Press release contains the detail and is surprisingly readable.
Issue #296 published 12 Jun 2022
This is pretty useful post - a list of common yet non-inclusive terms, mapped to more inclusive alternatives. I suspect someone could write a script which could do replace all on all recruitment marketing content you have out there. Good post.
Issue #295 published 5 Jun 2022
Are you planning to roll out a PGP (Preferred Gender Pronoun) programme? Interested to get your views on this post by Dr John Sullivan, which anticipates a host of challenges with the formalisation of culture change. Not an easy read, as the tone encourages counter criticism, but the points made are not without merit. H/T brainfooder Matthew Hill for the share
Issue #295 published 5 Jun 2022
We talked about Moving to Salary Transparency in Brainfood Live two weeks ago but I failed to write it up, so it is just as well I got this excellent guide from our friends from Charthop to share. It’s a great how-to guide, especially as it connects the idea DEIB. H/T to brainfooder Gerry Crispin for the share
Issue #294 published 29 May 2022
Brainfooder Robin Choy challenged me to talk about politics in his excellent podcast series and I thought, sure why the hell not. It’s something we do need to discuss more openly as having no policy may be worse than having bad policy. Have a listen here.
Issue #293 published 22 May 2022
Time for some optimism then: this huge report on the Economics of Fertility provides evidence for the first time that the relationship between economic development at the societal level and declining birthrate at the family level, might be decoupled through greater provision of welfare. Who would have thought? Important read, so download.
Issue #293 published 22 May 2022
With the ‘domestic supply of infants’ causing concern at the very highest levels of US society, we also need to recognise the declining birth rate is a paramount concern for any country on the road to economic development. Reaction of Chinese women to the attempts by the People’s Republic to encourage more childbirth might seem surprisingly familiar….
Issue #293 published 22 May 2022
Pregnancy, childbirth and recovery are not gender-neutral processes. Leave policies for mothers and fathers should take this into account
The drive for more equitable share of parental leave gets a pushback from this author who makes the clearly correct assertion that motherhood is different from fatherhood. First of three posts this week, which cover the challenge of having kids whilst working.
Issue #293 published 22 May 2022
We don’t talk about menopause nearly enough, and as a man I personally grateful to the likes of Katrina Collier for bringing into public discourse what might once have been a personal challenge. Short video on the impact of menopause and its impact on work. H/T to brainfooder Andrea Kirby for the share.
Issue #292 published 15 May 2022
It’s a sad headline, isn’t it? ‘Second chance, but only because we are desperate’ really doesn’t address the deep misjudgements we have about causes of crime. At least the candidate short market has good news for some members of our community; we need to build on this and hire the formerly incarcerated without prejudice.
Issue #292 published 15 May 2022
All kinds of interesting tensions in this post from brainfooder Dorothy Dalton, with the core theme of place, how the very meaning of work and home are being challenged by the shift to remote working, and the impact on the gender division of labour. Have a read.
Issue #292 published 15 May 2022
Issue #291 published 8 May 2022
Do we become more racist when we offshore work? When there is no social cost to bear, we inevitably do. As the world shifts to remote first, remote only, the further distribution of work to places and people with whom we have had no prior contact or relationship nor any realistic prospect of one in future, might be dehumanising, for them and for us. Sober, important reading - do it here.
Issue #290 published 1 May 2022
Great discussion between two friends of brainfood - Neil Armstrong, CEO of Tribepad and Sven Elbert of Fosway, discuss DEIB. 15 minute watch / listen here.
Issue #289 published 24 Apr 2022
I have been to 4 in-person events in the past month and I have to say, have enjoyed them all immensely - the engagement, immersion and relationship fortification is on a different level compared to the online experience. We must not be too hasty in disposing of the virtual events though, as this extensive post on the DEIB ramifications of moving to virtual show. Excellent read and food for plenty of thought and ethical reasoning.
Issue #289 published 24 Apr 2022
Brainfooder Jessica Miller-Merrell on the awesome Workology podcast. This is an excellent conversation with Wesley Faulkner on workplace diversity and equality. Have a listen here
Issue #288 published 17 Apr 2022
Great conversation between brainfooder Damon Klotz and Minda Harts, founder of The Memo, and author of the book by the same name. Outstanding lessons on how to create a truly inclusive company culture. Have a listen here.
Issue #288 published 17 Apr 2022
An interesting conundrum on age-ism. It is very clear that older workers experience discrimination in the job market (see ‘dinobabies’ from IBM) and it is also clear that there are inevitable biological processes which are going to change our capabilities as workers. What if it is the case that our creativity generally peaks at 25? We need to find a way to integrate all members of our population into society and workforce; denial of biological reality is going to be hard way to do it. One to chew over the online campfire that is brainfood live.
Issue #288 published 17 Apr 2022
Quite a cool summary series from HBR - a collection of the most recent studies, with conclusions included as summary, as well as linking to the original material. As ever with studies on gender, the challenge the is less what is happening more why it does happen, what it means and what to do about it.
Issue #288 published 17 Apr 2022
The paradox is this: the countries which talk most loudly about gender equality, actually produce more less women engineers than those countries which do not prominently have ideological arguments about it. Some data, some meta-analysis and some wisdom, on a fascinating phenomena. Great post
Issue #287 published 10 Apr 2022
Report from Deloitte on mental health that focuses on making the business the case for investment . I suspect everyone who reads this newsletter should have this on hand. Download the report here
Issue #287 published 10 Apr 2022
For both men and women, the people who had lowered their pitch ended up with a higher social rank
Famously Margaret Thatcher consciously changed the way she spoke in order to further her political career; perhaps Elizabeth Holmes baritone is another example. Seems to be though, that we associate leadership (male or female, male with obvious advantage) with lower pitched voices, which may not be something we can correct for with anti-bias training. Lots to ponder, have a read, here
Issue #286 published 3 Apr 2022
Researchers found that a disproportionately high number of women named Virginia chose to live in Virginia Beach….
Fascinating post summarising the research on ‘name-letter’ effect, where we subconsciously prefer things (partners, locations, candidates….) that have the same first letter as our own names, clear evidence that only robots should do interviews and assessment.
Issue #286 published 3 Apr 2022
Pretty much all the time I suspect. Focusing on leisure / entertainment industries but I suspect the lessons might well apply to other spaces where dress code applies. Has Covid finished this anachronism for good? An interesting listen, for sure.
Issue #285 published 27 Mar 2022
The world - especially the online world - is built for the perfectly sighted. Even our design choices are often uninformed by accessibility concerns for those with less than perfect vision. Important chat from Chad and Cheese, with accessibility expert Matt Stubbs.
Issue #285 published 27 Mar 2022
The relationship between poverty, crime and unemployment is well known and cyclical. The worse thing to do is create a flywheel of these contingent challenges. Employers can do their bit by hiring more from the formerly incarcerated.
Issue #284 published 20 Mar 2022
Do you have ‘age diverse’ teams? Fascinating article on the existence of generational stereotypes and to combat assumptions. It is unclear whether we might be helped by formalising generational cohorts or diminishing their veracity. Pretty sure no one is doing anything about it - let me know if you know otherwise. Worthy read.
Issue #284 published 20 Mar 2022
I never thought I’d see social media scrutiny come back into relevance in recruitment, but in the era of cultural change, the things candidates say and do in their personal lives can no longer be discounted from our assessment of suitability. Good template / examples in this post by CheckSocial. Also a future Brainfood Live I think - what are the ethics of social media assessment, what is ok, not ok, marginal in what a potential hire has said in the past?
Issue #283 published 13 Mar 2022
When it comes to dev work, it seems to be full of young people. Sure, we have the outliers - but where are all the ‘older’ developers?
Good question and excellent career advice from a developer into his third decade. Important when thinking about retention and internal mobility, but also got me thinking about how applicable the concerns are toward our industry. What happens to recruiters at 35+? Similar issues I think….
Issue #282 published 6 Mar 2022
Moreover, analyses of trustworthiness judgments showed that mean F0 is not substantially related to judgments of general trustworthiness but that men with lower-pitched voices are judged as being less trustworthy in committed relationships and more trustworthy in economic domains.
Are candidates unfairly judged based on how they sound? Just takes a moments thought before you realise….yeah…that is exactly what happens. Being a voice coach is likely to a growth career.
Issue #282 published 6 Mar 2022
Were it not for war, this would probably be the biggest news we’d all be talking about - hugely ambitious and laudable projects in language translation in real time by Facebook. Especially relevant for us in a remote first world - language discrimination is already a thing - what if we could really eliminate it with an actual Babelfish?
Issue #281 published 27 Feb 2022
Gergely Orosz writes a very good blog on engineering hiring, maybe the best one around right now. This post could do with some concision but it is a high value one, dealing with one of the hard challenges in tech recruiting today - diversify the tech workforce. Have a read.
Issue #280 published 20 Feb 2022
Got a sinking feeling that most of us are going to miss this opportunity; how many of us are actually going to end up in exactly the same office environment that we left in 2019? If we are going to retain and go back to the office, there are plenty of reasons to radically redesign how we use the space.
Issue #279 published 13 Feb 2022
Really important post by brainbfooder Vadim Liberman who wrote this post explaining why he was leaving as editor of TLNT. We don’t talk enough - we are barely talk at all - about the responsibilities and pressures of being the primary caregiver. This is not just parents, but children who now need to look after parents. Must read folks.
Issue #279 published 13 Feb 2022
Inclusive Hiring
D&I
“….Our unique claim to fame is that most of our employees have been locked up…”
Suffice it to say, a fascinating podcast on inclusive hiring. Give a listen folks, it’s worth it.
Issue #278 published 6 Feb 2022
Kind of has it all - allegations of paid incentives to throw games, of minority candidates invited to interview to hit diversity quotas, and a crazy example of a congratulatory texts sent to the wrong candidate. The Brian Flores affair (surely it is affair status by now) is a very serious challenge to value of one of the great ideas in diversity hiring which had moved beyond the NFL - the Rooney rule and the requirement to interview, but not necessarily hire, under represented minorities for leadership positions. H/T brainfooder Colin McNicol for sharing in the fb group.
Issue #278 published 6 Feb 2022
The path to wisdom comes from asking questions rather than presenting answers. Now I’m not saying that brainfooder Tim Sackett is anything near being a wise man, but he does have a knack of interesting and pertinent questions.
Issue #278 published 6 Feb 2022
We don’t talk about menopause nearly enough, n wider society and certainly not in the professional context. So this is a really important post by Katrina Collier, particularly when you think about attrition risk, labour force participation, the ‘missing millions’ of workers….this is the first time I’ve seen anyone talk about menopause being a factor. Read it folks.
Issue #277 published 30 Jan 2022
Is there a worktech vendor that commits more to the production of high quality, industry changing content than Culture Amp? I’m not sure there is. Over 1 million respondents(!) to this survey on DE&I. It’s a landscape report has become an annual must read.
Issue #277 published 30 Jan 2022
Kind of is, to be honest, but you’re going to have to listen to whole thing to get the context. My good friend brainfooder Joanne Lockwood asked me to come back to her podcast and we talk about stuff I usually don’t talk about. Have a listen here.
Issue #276 published 23 Jan 2022
Useful how-to for those of us who want to create better relationships with colleagues who are have been diagnosed with ADHD. Written for the pre-pandemic world so much of the advice addresses synchronised in-person interactions, but many of the recommendations would seem be good management practice for any team member, in any context. Have a read. Also, very good conversation thread on working with neurodiverse colleagues here
H/T brainfooder Jeroen Kneppers for the share
Issue #274 published 9 Jan 2022
Some new DEI terms for us to learn - ‘negative intensification bias’ - which is more acute as digital communication has reduced ‘social presence’ enabling us to more easily dehumanise the sender as an exemplar of the group identity we have had problems with. I probably haven’t summarised this very well, so have a read of this post yourself - super accessible, super useful.
Issue #270 published 12 Dec 2021
More fascinating studies on the significance of familiarity as a signal of in-group membership, and therefore, subsequent positive ratings we give people who share membership of that group. Relevant to all of us recruiters who have an opinion on whether should use ‘blind resumes’. Accessible read
Issue #268 published 28 Nov 2021
A criticism of remote is that it is no substitute for really being with other people’. But what if people are 8rseholes? The beauty bias might well be one of the things we can ameliorate by shifting to a mode of work where human bias can at least be moderated by a computer screen. There is more to debate here, especially on whether recruiters ‘inherit’ bias from hiring managers (we do). A brainfood live I think, for the future.
H/T brainfooder Colin McNicol for the share in the fb group
Issue #268 published 28 Nov 2021
How do you ‘do’ DEIB in a massive, old school corporation, like JP Morgan Chase? You use a scalpel not a sledgehammer says Chief Learning Officer Jesse Jackson. Great nuggets of value here
Issue #267 published 21 Nov 2021
Fascinating conversation between development economists Shruti Rajagopalan and Ashish Sedai on the gendered responsibilities within the Indian household and its downstream impact on labour force participation. My mother too had to carry water for the household - essential time consuming labour with often decisive opportunity cost. Must listen folks.
Issue #267 published 21 Nov 2021
As we increasingly work in multi-national, multi-ethnic, multi-timezone teams, I wonder whether we need to know more about accents. Get watching foreign (to you) language movies folks, because according to this fascinating research, it’s going to help build trust between teams that include non-native speakers.
Issue #267 published 21 Nov 2021
Can we talk about the impact of genes on life outcomes? It’s not an easy topic to have, but I think this one was sensitively handled. Well worth a listen folks, do it here. H/T to brainfooder Bas van de Haterd for share.
Issue #266 published 14 Nov 2021
The experience of being transgender at work is under researched, so this report by McKinsey is much needed. Sober reading, especially in the lack of security (physical, mental, social) transgender workers feel at work. Some excellent practical guidance at the end to support organisation culture more inclusive to transgender people - have a read. H/T to brainfooder Bill Boorman for the share in the fb group
Issue #266 published 14 Nov 2021
Fascinating journey through history on the economic impact of discriminatory policies in society. H/T to brainfooder Bas van de Haterd for the share.
Issue #265 published 7 Nov 2021
McKinsey’s annual report on gender in the workplace enters its 7th year. Handily, all the previous reports are also listed at the end of the this online report. The analysis feels a little weak in some places, and is missing any age related correlations - surely a key component of intersectionality. Still, it’s an accessible report we should read and bookmark.
Issue #265 published 7 Nov 2021
Excellent research by the Ivy Research Council on how to diversify the candidate pipeline. More support for the anonymised CV / resume and diverse interview panels - we are beginning to form a consensus on what may be most effective. H/T to brainfooder Syeda Younus
Issue #264 published 31 Oct 2021
Compulsory education systems usually specify a cutoff date regulating the precise age for entry into primary school. Existing literature from the USA and Europe has demonstrated that children born just before the cutoff date are disadvantaged in academic performance and has formalized this phenomenon as the “age position effect.”
Fascinating study, and one wonders how significant age position effect might have for cumulative advantages and disadvantages thrown up by an education system we now know is optimised for getting parents back into the workplace.
Issue #263 published 24 Oct 2021
Why are fewer women promoted to senior positions than men? It’s all about our preconceptions of ‘leadership’ using default male character traits. 5 minutes, fascinating conjecture.
Issue #262 published 17 Oct 2021
/recruitinghell is a subreddit dedicated to the terrible things candidates experience in recruitment. Last week, a new level was reached with Y combinator startup ‘Skip the interview’. The thread is a savage beat down on the idea of rewarding referees with a cash reward…..
H/T brainfooders Mark Uz and Rob McCargow for the share.
Issue #262 published 17 Oct 2021
If you’re over 50, you’re half as likely as other age groups to find work. Think about that. In this candidate short market. It’s the DEI issue which is universally prevalent, yet perhaps least well supported. Excellent post by brainfood Joseph Slavin on what we can do about it.
Issue #262 published 17 Oct 2021
Classic sh1t stirring from brainfooder Tim Sackett, who is always asking questions others might be afraid to pose - is hiring inherently an act of discrimination? And if so, why are certain categories of discrimination more acceptable than others? Maybe a future topic for a Brainfood Live. Have a read of his post here - and love to hear thoughts on this ;-)
Issue #261 published 10 Oct 2021
Written by DE&I professionals who are also clearly long time fans of Star Wars franchise, this essay is an extraordinary critique on the use of pop culture to advance social justice goals. So many points of interest here - relevant to us in recruiting & HR, especially as we often bear witness to - and participate in - the creation of in-company elites.
Issue #260 published 3 Oct 2021
“This job board is for sharing job openings that do not require employees to inject themselves with an experimental substance,”
It’s from Gab (of course), in response to growing US employer mandates for employees to be vaccinated or be fired. Expect the argumentation techniques of the left to be adopted by the right. And…when is the D&I argument going to be used?
Issue #260 published 3 Oct 2021
AI Explorables
D&I
Beautiful, interactive website from Google, which outlines the main concepts in machine learning, with a particular focus on the challenges of bias. This is an opportunity for us in TA / HR to collectively upgrade our literacy in AI as we increasingly use technologies that is ‘powered by AI’. Must read folks.
Issue #259 published 26 Sep 2021
Lily Russell-Stracey went to an exclusive boarding school and a top university – and is now a plumber in Glasgow. Dr Wanda Wyporska comes from a working-class background and was raised by a single mum. She went to Oxford University and is now Executive Director of the Equality Trust.
Fascinating premise on the role of social class to self perception. H/T brainfooder Colin McNicol for the share in the fb group.
Issue #257 published 12 Sep 2021
Should the vaccination status of your employees be considered when you’re making staff cuts? In the world of elite sports, at least one coach thinks so - or at least, did think so until forced to backtrack after the furore for freedom that ensued after he implicitly stated that non-vaxxed players worsened their case to stay on the team. Lots to think about here, particularly, as he clearly has a point.
Issue #256 published 5 Sep 2021
Our analysis of employer responses to more than 3,200 fictitious job applications across 15 occupations revealed that overall positive employer response rates were higher for women than men by almost 5 percentage points. We found that this gap was driven by employer responses in female-dominated occupations. Male applicants were about half as likely as female applicants to receive a positive employer response in female-dominated occupations. For male-dominated and mixed occupations we found no significant differences in positive employer responses between male and female applicants.
Fascinating, counter intuitive findings. Have a read
Issue #256 published 5 Sep 2021
Culture Amp consistently produce high quality, pragmatic, free-to-access content on how to improve company culture. You’ll find something in this post on DEI metrics which can be immediately implemented to your current flow - have a read.
Issue #256 published 5 Sep 2021
Great interview with Shelly McNamara, head of equality and inclusion at Procter & Gamble on why it is valuable it is to work at an inclusive company. H/T to brainfooder Bas van de Haterd for the share
Issue #255 published 29 Aug 2021
Personal story illustrating the resume hacks a veteran job seeker needed to perform just to get a chance at the interview. Age discrimination is widely accepted as a problem yet precious little time / energy seems to be spent doing anything about it. We are talking about this in Brainfood Live next month - please join if this topic is important for you. H/T to brainfooder John Vlastelica for the share in the fb group
Issue #255 published 29 Aug 2021
Confession: I think this is often a forgivable error - we can’t get everyone’s name right, every time. However, we should perhaps better understand the impact of getting it wrong. Have a listen
Issue #254 published 22 Aug 2021
Were it not for the chaotic scenes in Kabul this past week, no doubt the central news would’ve been China’s continued experiments in large scale state interventions into the free market (Rui Ma probably best commentator on this). How about this idea to improve gender diversity in the workforce? Tax companies who don’t do meet their quotas.
Issue #254 published 22 Aug 2021
Fascinating story of the recruitment techniques practiced by sororities at the University of Alabama. There’s everything here - limited vacancies, functional assessments, demonstrations of worth. Brainfooder Marie Herlihy takes us down a TikTok rabbit hole, which begs questions at every level; the ubiquity of ‘culture fit’ assessment, power dynamics inherent in the act of application and the outcomes for diversity and inclusion in wider society as graduates of sororities (and fraternities) graduate to the world of work. Must read
Issue #254 published 22 Aug 2021
Fascinating premise, though the data includes reference to Danielle Steele and so I have to be skeptical of the methodology. Nevertheless, the premise, if true, does this have implications for who we pay attention to online - on LinkedIn, on twitter, ….via newsletters? Brainfood for sure - have a listen
Issue #253 published 16 Aug 2021
Interesting expansion of a concept from linguistics to the realm of identity by brainfooder Dorothy Dalton. How much productivity and performance is lost by employees who are not able to be their true selves? Have a read here
Issue #253 published 16 Aug 2021
Speaking of diversity, this startme page by Bret Feig looks like pretty awesome collection of resources. H/T to brainfooder Charlotte Johns for the share
Issue #253 published 16 Aug 2021
More feature roll out from LinkedIn - this time enabling the ability to ‘hide names and photo’s’ in LinkedIn Recruiter. Permissions are set at admin level, so expect this feature to be rolled down from corp - have this conversation internally now if you have a problem with it. The release highlights an interesting conundrum on how to de-bias sourcing - do we actively use less information (pretty much the French approach) or do we use more, in order to actively target under represented groups (aside from this example, the US approach)? Topic for a Brainfood Live I think.
Issue #253 published 16 Aug 2021
This how-to guide is easy reading for anyone at any level of interest or expertise in DEIB, delivered with a tone which itself respectful and an example of inclusive communication. Good place to start for newbies, useful refresher for anyone.
Issue #252 published 8 Aug 2021
Two major phenomena shaped the U.S. news for most of 2020: the COVID-19 pandemic and a new civil rights movement. In this article, we examine the intersection of these events and their effects on the tech work landscape.
Written by two IT / Technology academics, this accessible 11 pager identifies 6 population groups and predicts the technological innovation that will address their unique needs. Worth a read
Issue #251 published 1 Aug 2021
Internal DEI report from Glassdoor. The key figures is going to be ‘rate of change’ which hopefully we will be able to see as we go YoY. Of course, even better might be some sort of realtime service tracking workforce composition…..anyone build this?
Issue #250 published 25 Jul 2021
Fascinating research from Switzerland which tracked how recruiters selected candidates on an online job platform. Discrimination (in this case, against a-typical candidate names) is worse at the end of the work day. Hypothesis? Recruiters get tired, want to log off and reduce cognitive load by relying more on bias. H/T to brainfooder Bas van de Haterd for the share.
Issue #247 published 4 Jul 2021
20 crowdsourced ideas on how to hire more women into tech. I’m going to do one of these threads per week, collecting together community knowledge from conversations had in Brainfood Lives, so follow the account here to get the document. Free, as usual
Issue #246 published 27 Jun 2021
Brainfooder Alia Khattab with a personal and inspirational story of the experience of being a Muslim women in recruitment and why being true to yourself was key to finding the right type of company to work for. Lots to think about here - in-group bias, optimisation for the job search, cultural fit and the hurdles ‘other’ people have to face. Have a read
Issue #245 published 20 Jun 2021
Not everyone who speaks English is treated the same way. What happens when accent discrimination creeps in to our conscious and unconscious – and what do we do about our biases?
‘Creeps in’?? I suspect linguistic discrimination is pretty much universal and has long been a significant barrier to the diversification of the workforce. Important article on an aspect of bias which is rarely discussed. Less clear is what to do about it - maybe roll out the robot interviewer?
Issue #244 published 13 Jun 2021
Issue #244 published 13 Jun 2021
Extraordinary essay speculating on the why public intellectuals don’t sustain. The use of Thomas Friedman as a singular case study is unscientific but illustrative, and ultimately concludes that it is because he got old. Implications for us in HR / staffing, particularly as we have a responsibility for eliminate bias in hiring, yet at the same time ensure hiring best person for the work.
Issue #243 published 6 Jun 2021
Pragmatic looking report, built to be used, full of do-it-today illustrations on how to improve DEIB in your business. Only 65 pages, each more or less a condensed slide, so easily consumable. Commendable document from Wharton Business School. Download it here
Issue #242 published 30 May 2021
Excellent summary of a CEO/CHRO survey conducted by SHRM, which asked the same questions to these two populations and compared the answers. There is ‘divergence in diversity’. Have a read
Issue #242 published 30 May 2021
Delighted to work with our buddies AmazingHiring on this post on distribution of female engineering talent in Europe. Brainfood Live on how to hire more women into engineering (registration now open here) next month. Check out the post here, maybe useful for any European tech recruiter looking to diversify pipeline
Issue #241 published 23 May 2021
Lots to think about in this post - fitness of assessment measures for role, universal applicant funnel, the impact of perverse incentives - all combine to create a lawsuit and an almighty mess. Have a read, let me know what you think. H/T brainfooder Mark Mansour for the share.
Issue #240 published 16 May 2021
The reason he had spent the last six weeks constantly criticizing my presentation and speaking skills and had been keeping from attending meetings with key senior executives, most recently the CEO, was because the pitch of my voice went up too high and that he had a problem with the manner in which I moved my hands when I spoke.
Incredible personal account on a facet of discrimination which most us likely have never thought about - sounding ‘too gay’. Must read folks
Issue #239 published 9 May 2021
The shift to remote, digitisation, flattening of organisational hierarchy, desire to cut costs…..is pandemic the ultimate crisis for employability of the older worker? Sobering research from the Resolution Foundation and one we all need to care about, not least because we are all going to be it at some point. Must read folks
Issue #238 published 2 May 2021
There is a hope that the great distribution + digitisation of the world following the pandemic, will lead to increased opportunities to people like Dalia Awad. Whilst we have hope in reading her story, in her own words, we should not forget for a moment that she is a vanishingly small exception to a terribly cruel circumstance.
Issue #237 published 23 Apr 2021
How much career advice to women is really about modifying behaviour to fit male-centric systems? All of it, I’d say. The recommendations on this otherwise excellent post are somewhat unimaginative (men should be the ones modifying…) when perhaps a systemic redesign equitable for all is what is required, but the analysis I think is sound. Have a read, let me know what you think!
Issue #237 published 23 Apr 2021
Alright so we are sticking with the data theme - this time allied with compliance rules set by SEC in the US earlier this year. I suspect similar requirements will soon start being rolled out elsewhere in the world. Dr John Sullivan with another super practical post on how to get your metrics right for the report.
H/T brainfood Scott Birkhead for the share in the fb group
Issue #236 published 18 Apr 2021
Brainfooder Jim Stroud has levelled up his blogging game. This essay are cogent, well researched and most of all, so well referenced that the function as an archive for the topic, as much as it does a great read. Debate the theories all you like, but this is how you get content into brainfood.
Issue #236 published 18 Apr 2021
The research highlighted that essentialist beliefs about homosexuality can result in an ‘auditory gaydar’, or the use of vocal cues to infer someone else’s sexual orientation. Whether or not the individual ‘sounded gay’ resulted in different levels of prejudice and avoidant discrimination
The research is from a single study but perhaps some validity to this - and perhaps particularly prevalent depending on whether the work might be stereotypically seen as masculine or feminine. Another under researched / under discussed discrimination this - maybe worth doing a Brainfood Live on.
Issue #235 published 11 Apr 2021
Digestible report from the Alan Turing Institute, on gender variance in the field of AI. Key findings summary is a fair analysis for those super short on time. H/T brainfooder Colin Donnery for the share in the fb group
Issue #235 published 11 Apr 2021
Massive 400+ page report from the World Economic Forum on the state on gender equality in the world in 2021. I won’t pretend that I’ve read all of this yet, but obviously one to download, sample and have to hand. Check Who’s Talking section below also for the virtual briefing WEF periscoped out there. H/T to brainfooder Jacob Sten Madsen for the share in the fb group.
Issue #234 published 4 Apr 2021
Hat tip for Totaljobs for this report on trans employee experience of the workplace. 400 people surveyed covering a range of topics from discrimination to HR support. Includes important advice for TA / HR - practical, do-it-today input. Must read
Issue #233 published 28 Mar 2021
Personal account of gender discrimination in the workplace with each incident a vivid illustration of type of situations where bias can have such negative impact. This is a sobering and (TW) potentially emotionally impactful read. I recommend we all do so. Comment thread on HN is also a great read
Issue #231 published 15 Mar 2021
Gender Bias in Hiring Report: Data-backed Strategies for Improving Gender Equality in the Workplace
D&I
Aggregating a number of reports on gender bias, this post from our buddies at Applied underlines the need for gender bias mitigation and elimination in the recruiting process. The how-to at the end in particular is worth spending some time to review. H/T to brainfooder Heidi Wassini for the share in the fb group
Issue #230 published 7 Mar 2021
1) Shift burden of proof to employer 2) Demand compliance and 3) Pay transparency. Simple steps, mandated at government level. Have a question on how it might apply to a remote first world though - if we do indeed hire from anywhere, job will surely migrate to the places where they can be done most efficiently in cost and compliance terms. Welcome thoughts on this post
Issue #229 published 28 Feb 2021
Many challenging issues raised by this story from Kayla Moncayo; What to do if you are confronted by actual company practice which deviates from stated company values? How damaging is it for your future job prospects if you leave in this way? Lots of things to think about here. H/T to brainfooder Mervyn Dinnen for the share in the fb group.
Issue #228 published 21 Feb 2021
Are we doing DE&I all wrong? Fascinating cameo portrait of Chloe Valdary, a writer I had not encountered before, who argues that the experience of alienation is key driver behind why we have the impulse of making humans into other aliens. One for all of us to read. H/T to brainfooder Petar Vujosevic for the share
Issue #227 published 14 Feb 2021
96.7% of females say DEI is personally important to them – and 12.3% of males say it is not.
👆 this would appear to be a problem. Amongst many other interesting insights from this report from Workable - check it out here. DE&I - and how to operationalise it throughout a business - remains a crucially important challenge. We’re going to be talking about this in Brainfood Live next month - sign up here if you want to get involved
Issue #225 published 31 Jan 2021
Did you know that the Office Applications within your Microsoft 365 subscriptions can provide you with some really useful and important editing features which can help you to ensure that the content you are producing is written in an inclusive and accessible style?
👆 I didn’t but some members of the brainfood community did, and let us all know about it. H/T brainfooder Bas van de Haterd for the share in the fb group
Issue #225 published 31 Jan 2021
We talked about the tyranny of metrics in the first post in this newsletter, so perhaps fitting that we end on the same note, this time on how classic recruiting KPI’s like TTH can adversely impact efforts to diversify the workforce. Optimising for one thing, is going to mean debilitating another. Great writing by John Vlastelica. H/T to brainfooder Jacob Sten Madsen for the share in the fb group
Issue #224 published 24 Jan 2021
Netflix have been doing a great job of promoting their culture first approach to company building and this new report likely will be listed as another one of their lead-by-example initiatives. Note the conscious change of language to focus on inclusion as the orientating principle for action.
Issue #223 published 17 Jan 2021
Can you guess? Yes folks, its social class. Some striking claims made in this excellent essay including that social class may have greater impact on your career development than either gender or ethnicity. Important concepts to think about: cultural capital, intersectionality, active inclusion. Post also includes some do-able ideas on how to mitigate. It’s a must read.
Issue #222 published 10 Jan 2021
Be interesting research to figure out how inter-generational our organisations are. Anyone done any research on this - if so, please let me know. Decent article here from the BBC on the influence on communication styles brought about by next generation of workers
Issue #222 published 10 Jan 2021
Saw this one late (was first published in 2019) but I suspect this is a TED talk which won’t ever get old. Heartbreaking, humane and humourous, Baratunde Thurston tells his story of racism in America and what we have all got to do to combat it, and any other -ism which might arise
Issue #220 published 27 Dec 2020
Issue #218 published 13 Dec 2020
I’ve been a follower of embodied AI since i first came across Tengai in 2018 and as more physical robots with AI come into the workplace, new challenges emerge in how think about them (or they objects like tools. or colleagues who happen to be machine?) and how we build relationships with them. Gendering of robots might be the first major challenge we have to face, so this accessible essay is a great outline of the history and potential future for how we might do it. It’s a great read.
Issue #217 published 6 Dec 2020
Beautifully presented website comparing female opportunity in a country by country comparison. It’s a fun tool - maybe useful - but not without flaws, especially in category selection, scoring and weighting. UK gets points for Maggie Thatcher for instance. We’ve seen how data visualisations can be powerful storytelling techniques and…we kind of need to be careful with this stuff. Including this post as a reminder to take that care. H/T brainfooder Oscar Mager for the share in the fb group
Issue #216 published 29 Nov 2020
Powerful essay on the trade offs you have to make it commit to DE&I. Especially interesting was the call for universalist application process, which is debatable on several grounds including that equity and diversity. Still, an important read. H/T brainfooder Heidi Wassini for the share the fb group
Issue #215 published 23 Nov 2020
Interesting conjecture in this post, which describes the inadvertent consequences of technophilia in tech hiring, specifically the requirement for Product Managers to come from an Engineering background. No question that the primacy of engineers in tech companies has a dampening impact of efforts to diversify - and may have consequences for business performance too. H/T brainfooder Bas van de Haterd for the share in the fb group
Issue #213 published 9 Nov 2020
Can you hear me? No, but I can read you.
👉A hearing-impaired product designer has his team experience his world and says we need to make work more inclusive for people living with disabilities 👈 the benefits of the shift to remote work is uneven. Important read this, so do it here
Issue #212 published 2 Nov 2020
People lists can be problematic (inherently exclusionary, when you think about it…) yet for persistent challenges we need to try every solution, however imperfect they may be. This list of D&I experts on LinkedIn is a fine example of this, so I recommend you use it.
Issue #211 published 26 Oct 2020
Excellent post weaving together two interrelated topics which are often - and perhaps mistakenly - treated as separable. Particularly like the use of analogies in the table - we should do more of this. H/T to brainfooder Mark Rogers for the share
Issue #210 published 18 Oct 2020
Dsxyliea
D&I
The past week has been Dyslexia and Dyscalculia awareness week - an often hidden disability which inevitably impacts more people than we realise. How many of us, for instance, test our career pages to be inclusive of people who may be dyslexic? This tool is a useful visualisation of what dyslexia looks like. Good education folks, so have a look here
Issue #209 published 11 Oct 2020
This story is about the other meaning of ‘getting some work done’ - the recruiter’s recommendation to a candidate to upgrade her appearance. The preview image tells you all you need to know how OP responded, but a lot to think about here - the gendered nature of aesthetics, age-ism in the workplace, and maybe - the gaming of unconscious bias. H/T to brainfooder Juliet Eccleston for the share.
Issue #208 published 4 Oct 2020
Massive state-of-the-nation report from McKinsey&Co on Women in the Workplace. Reads a little bit like it is still measuring numbers from before times, which reduces the ambition of its recommendations. Personal opinion though, so have a read for yourself and let me know what you think. Summary post here, download full report pdf here. H/T brainfooder Jan Vanden Boer in the fb group
Issue #208 published 4 Oct 2020
As everyone knows I’m a sucker for a Big List so when someone else does one which is both well researched and useful, I’m going to share it with you straight away. Great resource for any employer looking to diversify their workforce.
Issue #207 published 27 Sep 2020
What is the efficacy of D&I training programmes? Not much at all according to this post, which is essentially a collection of peer reviewed research on the ineffectiveness - and even counter productiveness - of D&I training.
Issue #206 published 20 Sep 2020
I hate listicles apart from when they are really good. This one from LinkedIn definitely is one - practical, do-it-today ideas on cultivating a culture of diversity. If you care about D&I, you’re going to find an idea here that you’re going to end up implementing.
PS: we talked about Culture Fit (being Bullsh1t) in last Friday’s Brainfood Live - check out replay here.
Issue #206 published 20 Sep 2020
Interesting blog from LinkedIn on the rise of the Head of Diversity position - along with the rising trend line, we get a decent cameo portrait on the line items a Head of Diversity might be looking to tackle. Entire post is worth a read, skip to the middle if you want what is effectively a template for a job description of the of role.
Issue #204 published 6 Sep 2020
We’ve had ‘diversity’, progressed to 'inclusion’, do we now need to move towards 'belonging’? Josh Bersin thinks so (which doesn’t mean it is always so) but this is interesting brainfood regardless and great to keep building the conceptual toolkit for intentional culture building.
Issue #204 published 6 Sep 2020
First look for me at what looks at firs glance to be excellent report from PwC - not only the state of D&I, but what to do about it. Must read folks. H/T brainfooder Petar Vujosevic for the share.
Issue #203 published 30 Aug 2020
Issue #203 published 30 Aug 2020
Do you think about accessibility when getting your design team to produce marketing collateral? Chances are …you don’t. This guideline from the UK Government Civil Service is surprisingly good and will get you more than half way there if you follow it. H/T to brainfooder Christina Robinson for the share
Issue #201 published 16 Aug 2020
If you’re in Employer Branding in 2020. there’s zero chance that you aren’t a) thinking about video and b) thinking about D&I. Great selection of examples of a+b together from our buddies at Stories. Check it out here
Issue #200 published 9 Aug 2020
One of the sad ironies of D&I is just how diverse we really are when it comes to discriminatory practices. Fascinating story on the persistence of ‘casteism’ in India, as well as in companies where there is significant Indian representation. Of interest to me: how is caste data collected? Any one know, let me know…
Issue #199 published 2 Aug 2020
The political right and left are perhaps closer in their analysis on this topic than they’d prefer to admit, differing mainly on whether the journey and destination is a good thing. Laetitia Viteaud is one of the foremost thinkers on the left in the intersection of gender and the future of work. She is a must follow, this post is a must read
Issue #198 published 26 Jul 2020
Beautiful people have it easier, and it’s not fair. Important points raised in this thought provoking if rather imperfect essay, (entirely missing the concept of evolutionary fitness…) but ends with suggestions I can fully agree with. Also seems to have produced a decent reason for the positive application of deep fakes….
Issue #197 published 19 Jul 2020
Important piece of self reflection from a tech startup CEO who thought gender didn’t matter, until it did. This is an important read for anyone who cares about a building an inclusive company culture.
Issue #196 published 12 Jul 2020
More sourcing goodness from the queen of sourcing goodness, Irina Shamaeva. Custom Search Engine for Diversifying your pipeline, designed and configured by Irina herself. Free to use, just click and bookmark. PS: contrast this with ad targeting (see above article) and you can see what an ethical mess we’re in right now…
Issue #195 published 5 Jul 2020
2020 is turning out to be the Year of the Big List. Here’s another one - an excellent collection of HR & Recruiting resources from brainfooder Jess Hayes for folks serious about D&I
Issue #194 published 28 Jun 2020
Now might be good time to resurface up this report from Stanford University in 2018; 5 best practices which have been proven to improve D&I. Particularly like ‘alternative complaint procedures’- going the legal route often carries career ending consequences for stakeholders involved. Download the report here
Issue #193 published 21 Jun 2020
Adam Karpiak is one of the funniest recruiters tweeting today. Occasionally, he is also serious. This is one of those times, and the result is thread which everyone should read. Follow Adam on twitter also, obviously
Issue #192 published 14 Jun 2020
D&I has a problem because the department most responsible for D&I is itself usually very far from D&I. Tough, necessary talk on the white, female, middle class dominated department of HR. Have a read here folks.
Issue #191 published 7 Jun 2020
Exceptional post which articulates what most of us are experiencing first hand right now - our homes as economic spaces. Important to read this, so have at it here
Issue #188 published 17 May 2020
Kind of a terrible headline but the data is clear; much higher degree of gender equality in STEM in the less developed countries. What gives? Theory: poor people don’t have the luxury of choice and choose STEM irrespective of gender, because that its the clearest route out of poverty. More for us to ponder on the diversity issue in tech.
Issue #79 published 23 Apr 2020
There are few US politicians are prepared to articulate the tough reality that the American Dream is not based merit, but background. Sobering research from George Town University on the importance of outside factors to academic and professional success. US data but I suspect applies to everybody. Have a read here
Issue #158 published 23 Apr 2020
Following on from last week’s super popular post on this topic by brainfooder Theo Smith, we see further debate on expanding the label of diversity beyond gender and ethnicity. In end, it’s about embracing difference of every kind, says Plaid’s Angela Zhang.
Issue #107 published 23 Apr 2020
Lots to say about this incredible story coming out of E&Y last week. Not only the content of the presentation, E&Y’s reaction to it, then and now, the discussion that has generated since and also, where the responsibility for content lies - the platform (EY) or the publisher? Have a read and a think here
Issue #159 published 23 Apr 2020
Turns out the Big Five Personality Test - one of the world’s most widely accepted - spits out different scores according to your gender. It’s a sort of scandal, until you realise the scoring is based in gender aggregates. As ever, presentation of the report is a problem. Could be solved with a website that users can segment on their own.
Issue #71 published 23 Apr 2020
“It’s blatantly unlawful,” says one employment law expert in this post from Propublica. Where then does that leave recruitment, perhaps an inherently discriminatory exercise? Goes to heart of ‘persona marketing’ and the application of general heuristics to individual cases.
Issue #66 published 23 Apr 2020
“…Every morning when I wake up I feel a heavy sense of trepidation as I contemplate the complex series of social interactions I will have to navigate in order to make it through the day at work….”. Challenging interview on aspergers, gender, tribalism, politics and the true meaning of safe places in tech.
Issue #66 published 23 Apr 2020
In the week where IBM are once again facing lawsuits against age discrimination, this post by A. Jesse Jiryu Davis proved timely. Older workers suffer the double marginalisation of being undervalued and not having their marginalisation recognised. We’re all going to be here at some point, so we’d better read this.
Also: conversation thread on Hacker News H/T ‘foodie Pedro Oliveira for the share
Issue #129 published 23 Apr 2020
Women developers share their views on job opportunities, Silicon Valley, and more in HackerRank’s 2019 Women in Tech report. As usual, it’s superb stuff in this beautiful interactive report here and download the pdf here.
Issue #129 published 23 Apr 2020
Practical stuff on culture change with brainfooder Mertcan Uzun. I particularly like No5 - small wins are indeed big - especially the need to show early evidence of success. Framework is for D&I but really is good practice for any kind of change management.
Issue #174 published 23 Apr 2020
If you have never been a mother returning back to work after maternity leave, let me paint a picture of what that is like. You are more exhausted then you have even been in your entire life; physically, emotionally and mentally drained.
So starts an important conversation on how we need to redesign work to provide for the changes in life. Great writing by brainfooder Whitney Klepadlo.
Issue #174 published 23 Apr 2020
Fascinating development on the dominance of one gender in a particular field of work within the banking sector - women, in digital virtual assistants. 10 minute video, 100 hours of brainfood. Likely future topic of a Brainfood Live. Have a watch, and think, here. H/T ‘foodie Adam Gordon for the share.
Issue #138 published 23 Apr 2020
You got to give it to the ‘age fluid’ Emile Ratelband - he’s triggered at least two debates, which perhaps we need to have. 1. At what point is identity externally fixed and 2. what can we do about ageism? A strong piece of reflection from our buddies at SmartRecruiters, on an unspoken discrimination which will inevitably impact us all.
Issue #113 published 23 Apr 2020
‘Cluster hiring’ is form of recruitment in which multiple organisations simultaneously advertise multiple positions without specifying specific field or level of seniority. This case study seems to show impressive results in diversifying the backgrounds of candidates eventually hired. Academic example - do know of a commercial analogue? H/T brainfooder Petar Vujosevic for the share
Issue #176 published 23 Apr 2020
But more than 10% of both men and women said they thought they would be less willing than previously to hire attractive women.
Challenging read from HBR but one which may be necessary for us to take a deeper dive into. It’s brainfood alright, so have at it here
Issue #151 published 23 Apr 2020
Fascinating long read on IBM’s journey to compete in the internet world, enacting culture change by cutting tens of thousands of workers, mainly tenured, senior employees - ‘the old heads’. The unfairness is undeniable and yet staff turnover has always been the way to conduct radical cultural change.
Issue #76 published 23 Apr 2020
50 Percent
D&I
Add event, reveal the gender split of the speaker line up. Would be cool if this could pull the data entirely from the url of the speaker page, but this is a nice start to a great idea. H/T long time brainfooder Anna Ott for the share. Event organisers: don’t forget the Big List of Women Speakers in Recruiting & HR - it’s free to use.
Issue #80 published 23 Apr 2020
Asynchronous video interviewing on the surface; a modern iteration of phrenology at it’s core. Market penetration by market leader, HireVue, is hugely impressive. It’s a D&I minefield though.
Issue #48 published 23 Apr 2020
Exceptional commentary from Ryan Leary on a tough and often contentious topic. We need to do more than quotas; we need to do more than hiring ‘diverse’ candidates. Some tough love here folks - required reading.
Issue #48 published 23 Apr 2020
Being overweight is bad for your career, especially if you’re a woman, according to this article from the Guardian. Sadly, I think we intuitively understand this to be true. Is ‘size-ism’ the next D&I challenge for recruiters and HR? And what exactly can we do about it?
Issue #48 published 23 Apr 2020
Discrimination in the recruiting game has a long history, as these extraordinary anti-Irish / anti-Catholic advertisements show. Sadly, there are those amongst us who would see a return to these days of open discrimination. We’re still on this journey folks
Issue #48 published 23 Apr 2020
Of course they are. The problem is that this is a fiendishly difficult challenge to resolve. This post tells you to get better at copy writing. Getting rid of the text is perhaps the more radical answer
Issue #24 published 23 Apr 2020
Gender income gap in the US widens as we age. Expected results I think, especially as the divergence seems to occur as couples get married / have kids. Interestingly, in the UK women marginally out earn men on average at the beginning of the career, only to see same type of divergence at a similar time of life. Check it out for yourself here
Issue #124 published 23 Apr 2020
There are few people I respect more in the industry than Glen Cathey. I don’t think he knows this, but he basically appears in a slide on every presentation I give. This deeply personal and important post is a typical of the man - meticulous, intelligent, valuable and humane. Read it.
Issue #124 published 23 Apr 2020
Is this what ‘radical inclusion’ really means? I’m not sure we’re quite ready to have this conversation but brainfooder Neil Morrison was brave enough to at least start it. Have a read and a think here. We’ll be talking about this in Brainfood Live this week - register and tune in here
Issue #175 published 23 Apr 2020
How cool is this? UK Home Office Digital repository of posters covering different topics - research, access needs, accessibility, design. Great design is powerful communication. Check out the PDF here
Issue #96 published 23 Apr 2020
Is this true? I think it is. Interesting research on ‘shadow work’, which women seem to do more of than men, to their detriment in any race to the top. No easy answers here, but plenty of valuable questions.
Issue #96 published 23 Apr 2020
Interesting application of design thinking in tackling gender bias in the workplace, especially in how organisations can neutralise implicit biases in the workplace that are often experienced by workers, but perhaps not formally codified in policy. Our buddies at GapJumpers feature again. Take a read here.
Issue #100 published 23 Apr 2020
Are we tired of company scandals yet? This one is worth a read, especially given the overt gender equality mission of the business, Thinx. It’s self-styled ‘She-E.O’, Miki Agarwal turn to be under close scrutiny for unconventional behaviours in the office.
Issue #25 published 23 Apr 2020
Giving birth at any age comes with changes — but this video outlines how much a difference it makes depending on when you do it. H/T Bas Van De Haterd for sharing in the fb group
Issue #156 published 23 Apr 2020
Issue #118 published 23 Apr 2020
There has long been a ‘hierarchy of diversities’. It’s great to see the term expand to include others groups who have been marginalised in less obvious ways. Excellent research by our buddies at Good&Co - on what neurodiversity is, why it matters and how we can get better as a business by promoting it.
Issue #118 published 23 Apr 2020
Interview transcripts rarely feature on brainfood, but this exceptional story with Shelley Winner needs to be told. Inclusion & diversity in companies which should not neglect to hire people with criminal records. Excellent work brainfooder Marian Jarzak!
Issue #118 published 23 Apr 2020
Superb how-to guide from our buddies at GapJumpers: practical tips on the things you can do today to get better at diversity and inclusion. Thanks to brainfooder Lauren Mobertz for the share!
Issue #73 published 23 Apr 2020
Super interesting research from McKinsey on how impact of automation on women’s jobs will vary across geographies. In short, data from UK and Germany suggests female dominated work will be more resistant to automation, whilst the opposite is the case in Africa. Lots to ponder here in this short 4 pager which intersects workforce automation with gender politics. H/T to ‘foodie Adam Gordon for the share
Issue #132 published 23 Apr 2020
You’ve got to give it to the Chinese for not even getting to first base on inclusivity. Explicitly articulated age-ism in online job adverting in China - don’t bother applying if you’re over 30. A fascinating read from Bloomberg and a timely reminder that the values we cherish are anything but universal.
Issue #132 published 23 Apr 2020
Great story from The Spectator on an unexpected outcome of their ‘No CV’ policy on job applications. Better not be a publicity stunt. H/T OH subscriber Stevie Buckley for the share
Issue #49 published 23 Apr 2020
Rare Recruitment are doing tremendous work exposing the hidden bias which exists within the educational system. State vs Private as a diversity metric is not enough. Must read post here for anyone interested in D&I in the future talent pool.
Issue #120 published 23 Apr 2020
Really interesting findings from the Harvard Business School and USC collab. Seems that, for male employees, the more time spent with the manager is the primary factor for career development. Have a read here
Issue #166 published 23 Apr 2020
Everything you want to know about D&I in technical hiring but are too afraid to ask.
A significant piece of work from Jennifer Kim and Jason Wong. This is a promising start to what could be an important resource for diversity hiring in tech. Have a read here, probably worth a bookmark too.
Issue #166 published 23 Apr 2020
Our buddies at Indeed surveyed 1,000 women to learn more about their experiences working in tech. Very interesting survey results, which shows a great deal about how the surveyed sample view themselves. Would the answers be the same for us, in recruiting? H/T brainfooder Tris Revill for the share.
Issue #109 published 23 Apr 2020
Stunning interactive infographic on income mobility in the US. Segmented along race and gender, make sure you have a play with the drop down menu’s in the last chart. Fascinating and sobering in equal measure. H/T to my buddy Kaya Payseno for share
Issue #77 published 23 Apr 2020
Fascinating research from Lauren Guillén on the ‘confidence gap’ between men and women. Is it a myth, and does the myth itself produces the effects we attribute to observed behaviour? In the post truth world, we need to get better at understanding the powerful ways in which we shape our realities. Have a read here
Issue #114 published 23 Apr 2020
‘Culture fit’ is a recruiting meme which has been wallowing in the trough of disillusionment for the past number of years - particularly when it comes to diversity and inclusion - so this is a welcome defence of the idea from HBR. Have a read here
Issue #177 published 23 Apr 2020
We talked about whether recruiters had any kind of special social responsibility in last weeks Brainfood Live, given that we are gate keepers to opportunity - and very often that means society. Have a read of this blog post from the formerly incarcerated Sha Wallace-Stepter on his journey from prison to python, and have a think about what we should do.
Issue #171 published 23 Apr 2020
It’s difficult these days to talk about challenging topics without putting yourself at risk of social opprobrium and potentially professional sanction. Thankfully we have people like Stephen O'Donnell, Lisa Scales and Craig Fisher prepared to step forward and open the debate. This is an excellent write up on a topic we agreed has been grossly oversimplified. Video recording the crowdcast here
Issue #42 published 23 Apr 2020
Issue #162 published 23 Apr 2020
No more ‘edecanes’ says José Ramón Amieva. The Mayor of Mexico City has just banned the employment of attendants known as ‘edecanes’ or 'eye candy’ at events sponsored by local government. 'This job should not exist’ says Amieva. Do we agree?
Issue #98 published 23 Apr 2020
Comprehensive overview of the impact of technology on the hiring funnel, examined through the lens of equality and bias. No easy answers in this - as isn’t recruitment inherently an exercise in discrimination? - but this is an epic piece from Upturn that is the very least a necessary conversation starter. Must read
Issue #123 published 23 Apr 2020
Do men and women network differently? Fastcompany is citing research which says yes and it has a big impact on career opportunities for both sexes. Concludes with providing six ways women can leverage their connections for the same kind of boost men enjoy. Full study here, and one for the livestream I suspect.
Issue #123 published 23 Apr 2020
What do we think of this? Intuitively, I suspect we do respond differently to humour delivered by men vs women - but I can’t be sure. This experiment suggests that we do, on average, prefer it from men and even penalise women for using it. True? - and if so - why? Have a read.
Issue #128 published 23 Apr 2020
Google have released their annual diversity report, which you can read, here. H/T again to brainfooder Denis Dinkevich, who you should by now be following
Issue #164 published 23 Apr 2020
You can’t know where you are, until you know where you’ve been. Take a journey through history of D&I in this white paper from our buddies at Arctic Shores, putting context to the terms we use every day in today’s conversation about diversity and inclusion. Accessible report
Issue #164 published 23 Apr 2020
2017 has been the year of scandal. From Travis to Hollywood to Trump, we’ve see plenty of examples of what can happen when D&I isn’t at the heart of what you do. Our buddies at Lever have been a shining light in what has been a dark year for D&I.
Issue #63 published 23 Apr 2020
Susan Fowler wasn’t the only developers to become famous for diversity this year - so was James Damore, who was fired from Google for circulating this internal memo. Worth a look if you want to understand the ‘neuro-diversity’ argument from an unabridged source
Issue #63 published 23 Apr 2020
Susan Fowler’s February blog post Her exposé of the toxic culture at Uber might have been the pebble that caused the avalanche that led to the outing of Harvey Weinstein, resignation of politicians from both sides of the Atlantic, #MeToo movement and ongoing cascade of revelations which promise to sweep across every industry. It was featured in Issue 13. It’s well worth a read again
Issue #63 published 23 Apr 2020
I haven’t had the time to try this tool yet but given Atlassian’s record of commitment to diversity & inclusion I’m prepared to give this a pre-emptive share. Upload your anonymised team data here via CSV and identify folks how might be socially isolated. H/T to Nadine O'Regan for the share
Issue #153 published 23 Apr 2020
One of the most encouraging developments in D&I is an expansion of the scope to include the previously excluded. The operating model for most companies favours extroversion…and yet, 50% of the working population classify themselves as introverts. Varying the toolkit and channel for communication is the key step to redressing the balance. H/T brainfooder Garry Turner for the share - have a read, here
Issue #165 published 23 Apr 2020
Gender disparity in tech (see the superb Diversity in Tech post above) is often understood as an urgent problem we need to be solved. Are we looking at wrong industry and wrong problem? Super interesting, counter intuitive post from Fabrizio Carmignani.
Issue #102 published 23 Apr 2020
Big tech brands ranked for diversity of employees by race and gender. Beautifully presented website, with all the information you might expect. H/T to brainfooder Denis Dinkevich (who, incidentally is now looking for his next sourcing gig - contact here) for the share. Explore it here.
Issue #102 published 23 Apr 2020
Fascinating study from the University of Ghent on job ads, word choice of meta-stereotypical traits, and self selection on the application process. Two problems emerge: language AND the act of applying itself is gendered, problems we are tackling with visual matching on WorkShape.io.
Issue #75 published 23 Apr 2020
Everyone is a tribe these days. Something which is always going to be happen when well meaning differentiation results in someone else getting a raw deal.
Issue #34 published 23 Apr 2020
Fun experiment by our buddies at Ongig. Jeff Bezos’s first amazon job ad - for C/C++/ Unix developers incidentally - parsed through their text analyzer tool. Turns out, Bezos writes a pretty good job ad. Be great to see a series here ;-)
Issue #150 published 23 Apr 2020
Issue #143 published 23 Apr 2020
With CIPD data showing the HR profession is overwhelmingly female, white and straight, is HR itself walking the talk on diversity and inclusion?
Data is from the UK, but I suspect pattern replicates across Europe, North America and elsewhere. More evidence that the conversation around D&I needs to escape from the HR silo?
Issue #178 published 23 Apr 2020
‘Do you like men?’ and 'Is your mother a prostitute? Apparently these were the questions asked to former LSU running back Derrius Guice during interviews at the NFL Scouting Combine last week. 'Pressure interview techniques’ was the excuse, but really, it’s archaic stuff in the very weird world US sports.
Issue #74 published 23 Apr 2020
Decent interactive report from PwC - you can segment on territory and year, and track progress or lack thereof. Main findings? Maternity and occupational choice are the biggest drivers for earnings inequality. You can also download the full report here
Issue #74 published 23 Apr 2020
Our buddies at HackerRank are coming out with a very decent series of reports these days. This is data from a late 2017 survey of 14K developers (around 2k of whom self identified as women) on background, degree type, programming language preference. Dig in, it’s relevant and it’s digestible.
Issue #74 published 23 Apr 2020
tldr: you can got say you care. Simple, non-intrusive, do-able with no practical downsides. Evidence in the report, worth reading to get a grip on experiment design, and also to ponder how we translate academic language into more accessible content
Issue #87 published 23 Apr 2020
It is Bas van de Haterd again, who is rapidly turning into a relentless conversation starter in our industry. You don’t have to agree with every point he makes, but you inevitably engage with them. One topic can spin into dozens with this post on assessment, diversity, neuroscience and decision making.
Issue #135 published 23 Apr 2020
Uber is pretty much alongside WeWork and Facebook (but not Palantir? Come on the woke left!) as the big tech bad of the world. So what do we do when they publish their internal D&I report? Have a read of it of course. H/T to brainfooder Denis Dinkevich for the share
Issue #167 published 23 Apr 2020
Confession: I am guilty and seeking to change.
Kate Gregory’s blog gave me the insight as to why I should. This is well presented, empathetic argument on a topic that has stimulated plenty of conversation online in recent days
Issue #110 published 23 Apr 2020
It’s great to see companies open up and take us with them on their journey of change. Here we have long time brainfooder ZeShaan Shamshi writing about improving diversity in tech, and at Onfido
Issue #68 published 23 Apr 2020
I’ve been having conversations about identity, privilege and diversity on my fb recently. It’s clear we need more inclusive conversations of this type and recognise the necessity of perspective. The question is asked by Ed Baldwin in this discussion post, and he makes the case for ‘yes’. What do you think?
Issue #104 published 23 Apr 2020
Did you know that women can’t drive trains in Russia, by law?Yes folks, it’s codified gender inequality packed into one easy-to-use interactive website. Fascinating, fun & depressing at the same time? Find out for yourself here
Issue #86 published 23 Apr 2020
What happens when PR nightmare strikes? Answer: you do what you can. Starbucks have been through the mincer of late, this is their attempt to make right on race, bias, and creating an ‘environment that is welcoming to all’. Their materials on staff sensitivity training published here - it’s a useful resource.
Issue #86 published 23 Apr 2020
Been meaning to share this post for several months now. I’m glad I’ve rediscovered it. Valuable insight on the often traumatic experience of changing your identity at work. If you haven’t read this yet, do yourself a favour and do it now.
Issue #122 published 23 Apr 2020
Issue #119 published 23 Apr 2020
Counter intuitive findings in this well linked post from Washington Post. Turns out, men are less likely to take sexual harassment reports seriously after undergoing mandatory training. A lot of tough thinking required in this challenging post.
Issue #60 published 23 Apr 2020
The ‘child care penalty’ is tracked as the most significant factor in the gender pay gap. We need to think about units of analysis, relationship between parents, unpopular solutions like equality in parental leave, and everything else. Have a read here
Issue #130 published 23 Apr 2020
Intersection of race / gender particularly interesting in Google’s Annual Diversity report for 2018, as is the tech / non-tech gender split. Thanks to brainfood favourute Denis Dinkevich - a fantastic contributor of shareable content. Read the full report here - and connect with Dennis on LinkedIn here.
Issue #92 published 23 Apr 2020
As a female ex-engineer, turned tech recruiter, turned tech startup CEO, Aline Lerner speaks with some authority on the issue of diversity & inclusion. She comes out against quota’s in this post - read it here.
Issue #95 published 23 Apr 2020
I suspect Hired are in a position to do wage analysis better than any other business in tech. They put their operating model to great use here in this comparative study on wage inequality in the workplace. Take a look here. H/T to Denis Dinkevich for the share
Issue #133 published 23 Apr 2020
Are community and inclusion actually at odds? Commentary on a fascinating controversy over the #HRTribe hashtag, which have revealed some uncomfortable truths about belonging, community and inclusion. H/T Mary Faulkner for taking on this debate though it’s one I’m not sure we’re ready to have.
Issue #90 published 23 Apr 2020
Somewhat sensationalist headline but somewhat sensational decision by Eindhoven University of Technology, to refuse male applicants for fellowship programme for the first 6 months of the recruitment process being open. Lots to think about here - on legality, morality, outcomes. Read the post here and join the debate here
Issue #141 published 23 Apr 2020
Women earn better grades than men across levels of education—but to what end? Interesting study on the impact of gender on ‘call backs’ for entry level jobs. US data but relevant for all of us here. Have a read here. H/T 'foodie Bas van de Haterd for the share.
Issue #141 published 23 Apr 2020
The gender pay gap is an observed phenomena, but our understanding of its causes is hampered by clickbait headlines according to this research from Microeconomic Insights, which points to intermittency and skills depreciation as significant and under stated factors. Thanks to brainfooder Dan Colceriu for the share. Read the full report here
Issue #91 published 23 Apr 2020
Excellent post by James Elfer from More Than Now - a practical guide to inclusive recruitment using behavioural science techniques. We can do better, fairer recruitment, but only if we think small first to deliver potential later.
Issue #83 published 23 Apr 2020
Is cutting out HR the way to deal with workplace harassment? Google employees are giving it a shot with this p2p email list. Maybe companies will become something similar to subreddits
Issue #33 published 23 Apr 2020
Here it is folks: a crowdsourced list of 400+ women speakers in Recruitment & HR. If you’re woman brainfooder and have something to share with a HR or TA audience, feel free to add yourself to the spreadsheet. I think this may be useful for event organisers who want to get a diverse speaker line up for their events. I’m going to start by sending it to the folks on this spreadsheet
Issue #67 published 23 Apr 2020
These 100 U.S. companies are doing the most to welcome minorities, LGBTQ employees, and people of all genders, ages, and abilities - all presented in a pretty decent interactive website. Not sure how much you can do with this info, but might be an interesting browse - and - some decent benchmarking data.
Issue #170 published 23 Apr 2020
Always interesting to read from non-specialists on the challenges of hiring diverse teams. Here Kendall Tucker, CEO of Boston startup Polis, talks about diversity hiring for tech. ‘Hire within the first 10 employees’ is probably good idea. Have a read here.
Issue #101 published 23 Apr 2020
Interesting report from LinkedIn Talent Solutions confirming the received wisdom that women apply for jobs less, but get hired more, when they do. Important read, with some practical how-to’s on diversity hiring. Missing some thinking about the why though but hey, one thing at a time
Issue #126 published 23 Apr 2020
The UK has published gender pay data across 1000’s of companies last week. This site by GOV.UK is still in beta but available now as the searchable archive for all those who have reported. No surprises on the gap but the lack of granularity on the data is disappointing.
Issue #78 published 23 Apr 2020
Excellent set of downloadable resources from Crescendo who are helping make sure that D&I are not forgotten as we deal with the shocking shift to remote working. And, if you have indeed forgotten it, then it might say something about how important i really was to your business in the first place. H/T Laura Johnson for the share
Issue #182 published 23 Apr 2020
Following on from Dr Steven Jones exceptional talk featured last week, I’m taking a deeper dive into D&I - especially via critical thinkers like Culture Amp Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Steven Huang. Point 3 is likely to cause consternation, which is precisely why it needs to be made. Have a read here
Issue #157 published 23 Apr 2020
The conversation about D&I is traditionally dominated by gender & ethnicity, and yet there are other diversities which rarely get consideration. Can we say there is a hierarchy of diversity? Theo Smith makes the case for the neurodiverse in this post for our buddies at ChatTalent. Let the conversation roll on…
Issue #106 published 23 Apr 2020
HR has always straddled the competing responsibilities of employee advocacy vs corporate guardian. 2017 may be the year when we realise that this is an untenable position to take. Powerful introspective on the role of HR by Jane Watson, who asks all the hard questions.
Issue #65 published 23 Apr 2020
Age-ism in the Silicon Valley, by an insider account. Concise summary of the prevailing culture of in tech of worshipping youth - and - contempt for the old by one of the favourite writers featured on brainfood - Rachel Kroll. Give her a follow
Issue #117 published 23 Apr 2020
The same realities can be experienced very differently by different people. This account by Natalie Alper-Leroux is an essential read for anyone interested in improving their understanding of this truth. Have a read here
Issue #160 published 23 Apr 2020
Straight forward, well laid out case study of using data to point the way to diversify your workforce. Lessons from the PGA folks - probably the whitest, male-ist institution there is. This is one of those posts which makes a seemingly intractable problem, do-able. Have a read
Issue #169 published 23 Apr 2020
Revealing, valuable and important post from brainfooder Glen Cathey, who tells his own story of being neuroatypical in an industry that is stereotypically neurotypical. It’s a superb post and recommended reading for anyone interested in expanding the scope of D&I beyond gender / ethnicity. As a bonus, Glen’s talk is in this post as an embedded video
Issue #169 published 23 Apr 2020
Aubrey Blanche says it’s all about experiments backed up by research and data. Here, she shares what’s worked and what hasn’t at Atlassian, especially when it comes to diversifying it’s tech workforce. Main takeaway for me: do it early, as big ships are harder to turn. Read it here
Issue #103 published 23 Apr 2020
Issue #146 published 23 Apr 2020
Super interesting web app by our friends at Applied. They are tracking the candidate D&I metrics on UK job posting sites, and aggregating the data into a single user-friendly website. If you need to diversify your candidate pipeline, THIS is an essential resource for you for the top of the funnel - check it out.
Issue #146 published 23 Apr 2020
tl:dr: it’s the social vs ‘anti-social socialisation’ of boys and girls which is root cause. It’s a topic that’s not going to go away folks, so take a look at what Kapwing CEO Julia Enthoven means here.
Issue #85 published 23 Apr 2020
Words have meaning but we don’t always realise that those meanings can change according to who is in the conversation. Important research from LinkedIn on the impact of language in the workplace. It’s an essential read folks, so get to it here
Issue #147 published 23 Apr 2020
We all know its true - and we all do very little about it. Social class - most obviously signalled by how you speak - is the hidden bias which homogenises organisations without us even being aware of it most of the time. Brilliant essay on this topic and would love to hear from you on how we might tackle this problem. A future topic for Brainfood Live perhaps…
Issue #172 published 23 Apr 2020
I especially like the ‘3 minute summaries’ here - so no excuse not to glance at this report from LinkedIn. And I must admit, the multi-generational nature of the workforce is one aspect of D&I I had not seriously considered. Have a a read and a think
Issue #172 published 23 Apr 2020
Are we suffering from ‘Diversity Fatigue’? Research from Atlassian suggests that we are. Download the full report here and watch the interview with Aubrey Blanche, Atlassian’s Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion, and Kieran Snyder, CEO of Textio, here.
Issue #84 published 23 Apr 2020
We can all do more to diversify the speaker line ups in the conferences we support and attend. And whilst gender equity in speaker line ups is not the only dimension we need to think about, it is a conspicuous one we can do something about. Here is a crowdsourced big list of women speakers in our industry - send it to an event organiser and make sure they bookmark it.
Issue #168 published 23 Apr 2020
Issue #94 published 23 Apr 2020
Interesting thread on problems people have with standardised assessments. The replies reflect broad support for the authors position and yet, it turns out to be a simple advocacy of nepotism. And ….if so, it that so bad a thing? Plenty of brainfood here folks, so have a chew on down on this twitter thread and let me know what you think.
Issue #163 published 23 Apr 2020
Hiring for fit often produces monocultures of people who look and think the same. Hiring for ‘neuro’ atypicals may be the way around. Is this the next frontier for diversity?
Issue #35 published 23 Apr 2020
We hire people who look and sound like us. That includes people from different economic classes. Interesting research from HBR on how class signifiers impact the hiring process.
Issue #35 published 23 Apr 2020
What are you doing about the gender gap in tech? Get some inspiration here from our buddies at HelloFresh with their HelloTech initiative. H/T to OH subscriber Sam Cameron for leading the way.
Issue #35 published 23 Apr 2020
DiversityReports
D&I
A collection of diversity reports from top tech companies, all collected in one searchable website. Beautiful, useful and likely will make a difference.
Issue #70 published 23 Apr 2020
Take a read of this before you encourage your kids to learn to code; it’s the jobs that require a high degree of human interaction which are most resilient in the face of AI / Automation, and with ageing populations everywhere, healthcare is poised to be a massive growth industry. Doctors maybe on their way out, but nurses are definitely staying in. Status flip is on the way.
Issue #70 published 23 Apr 2020
What an imperfect messenger this is, but the data is convincing and it’s important we get a nuanced view on gender earnings disparity. How could there be a gap when pay is calculated on a gender blind, transparent formula? Turns out, men - on average - drive faster.
Issue #70 published 23 Apr 2020
Analogies matter. We use them to think about new ideas for which we don’t yet have the vocabulary. Brad Porteus gets it right - it’s the elegant phrasing from Vernã Myers which helps us better understand overlapping concepts like diversity, inclusion & belonging. Watch the talk, read the post, if culture change is something you care about.
Issue #97 published 23 Apr 2020