The tragedy of bias in technical hiring

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The Tragedy of Bias in
Technical Hiring
in Five Acts
Kelsey Foley
Oct 10, 2014
#GHC14
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Why are there so few women in tech?
1. “The Pipeline” – not enough trained women
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Why are there so few women in tech?
1. “The Pipeline” – not enough trained women
1. Industry doesn’t know how to recruit and hire women.
1. Industry doesn’t know how to retain women.
(Hint: Industry must hire women before retaining them!)
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Synopsis

The Birthplace of Bias – and how to combat it

How bias manifests in:
−
Job descriptions
−
The Interview Process
−
The Hire or No-Hire Decision
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Act 1: The Players

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men
and women merely players.”
- William Shakespeare, As You Like It
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Meet Julie Ette:
•
BS in CS from StateU
•
5 years work experience with two
mobile software companies
•
Looking for a new job
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Meet Monty and Ben:
Monty Gue,
Engineering manager at
hot mobile startup Roam.io
Ben Volio,
Technical recruiter at
Roam.io
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Will Julie find a match with Monty’s team?
Let’s find out…
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Act 2: The Birthplace of Bias
“Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.”
- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
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The Two-Systems Model of Judgment and Choice
(Kahneman, Daniel. Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2011.)

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System 1 Source Data
Comes from the cultural soup we experience every day since infancy:
•
Role models - parents, teachers, siblings, and
caregivers
•
TV, books, music, and cultural memes
•
Peers and their own source data!
System 1 creates a meaningful story from our senses and experiences!
(Efforts to fix The Pipeline change the next generation’s patterns.)
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The Birthplace of Bias
Cognitive bias happens when
System 1 decides without System 2
helping to catch errors,
assumptions, biases, and mental
short cuts!
(We all do this! Don’t feel bad. It’s part of being human!)
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Tech Company Culture Exacerbates Bias
“People who are cognitively busy are also more likely to make selfish choices, use sexist
language, and make superficial judgments in social situations…. but of course cognitive load
is not the only cause of weakened self-control. A few drinks have the same effect, as does a
sleepless night.”
- Dr. Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow,
pp.41
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Common Biases in Hiring


Casuistry
−
using specious reasoning to rationalize behavior
or decisions

The Halo Effect
−
First impressions influence later experience

Affect Heuristic
−
People answer an easy question with System 1
instead of a harder one with System 2
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Common Biases in Hiring

Confirmation Bias
−
Seeking data that confirms our ideas

Fundamental Attribution Error, or the Negativity Effect
−
Over-emphasizing traits in others while under-
emphasizing situations (luck) in ourselves
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Common Biases in Hiring

Predicting by Representativeness
−

Making decisions using association with a
stereotype

Projection Bias
−
Unconsciously assuming that others share our own
perspectives, thoughts, and values
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So… How do we overcome our biases?
“What can be done about biases? How can we
improve judgments and decisions, both our own
and those of the institutions that we serve and
that serve us?
The way to block errors that originate in System
1 is simple in principle: recognize the signs that
you are in a cognitive minefield, slow down, and
ask for reinforcement from System 2.
Unfortunately, this sensible procedure is least
likely to be applied when it is needed most.”
- Dr. Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow, pp.417
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System 1 in Interviews
“The optimal time to make a decision about the candidate is
about three minutes after the end of the interview…. I ask
interviewers to write immediate feedback after the interview,
either a “hire” or “no hire”, followed by a one or two
paragraph justification. It’s due 15 minutes after the
interview ends.”
“Never say “Maybe, I can’t tell.” If you can’t tell, that means
No Hire. It’s really easier than you’d think. Can’t tell? Just

say no! If you are on the fence, that means No Hire…
Mechanically translate all the waffling to “no” and you’ll be
all right.”
- Joel Spolsky, The Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing v3.0, Oct 25, 2006

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Act 3: Attracting Diverse Candidates
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Subtle Cues in Job Descriptions
The purpose of a job description?
1. Internal: communicate hiring requirements
2. External: promote the job and company
How can the job description project bias?
(See also: Gaucher, D., Friesen, J., & Kay, A. C. (2011, March 7). Evidence That
Gendered Wording in Job Advertisements Exists and Sustains Gender Inequality.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. )
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Bad (and real!) examples
“Do you have a passion for quality gaming and
auto racing? XXXX Game Studios is hiring!
You are a Senior Software Development Engineer
with broad game development experience and
world-class software engineering skills. You’re
the kind of person who drives projects to
completion, sometimes across multiple functions
and groups.”
(See any Projection Bias? Casuistry? Representativeness?)
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Bad (and real!) examples
“The Application Programmer Analyst plays a vital role

on the ZZZZ Medical Group Support team,
demonstrating our values of patient-centered care and
service; respect, caring and compassion; teamwork
and partnership; continuous learning and
improvement; and leadership.
In this position you will:
Enhance existing computer programs to add
value throughout the organization…”
(Representative stereotypes exist for female-dominated roles too)
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Bad (and real!) examples
“QQQ Software runs a developer paradise: the latest technologies
and platforms and an elite team of great developers. No résumé
needed! Great work speaks for itself. We'd love links to your
GitHub or StackExchange profile!
Your Profile:
You live, eat and dream about code and test! Your drive to know
more and do better makes you evolve ”
(Projection Bias and Representativeness)
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Some recent (real!) examples
Education Required:
BS (Technical ), Masters preferred
Experience Required:
Prior experience at the Director level or equivalent
Physical Requirements:
Must be able to execute a two-handed reverse dunk on a ten-
foot rim without the aid of a trampoline.
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Who wants these as coworkers?

(And why are they all holding weapons?)