When hiring for its new internship program, Health Data Research UK, a public health nonprofit, decided it would stop asking for the resumes of its 159 potential candidates. Instead, it asked the potential employees to fill out a questionnaire and answer a short question on technology. By employing this tactic, the organization ended up hiring 30 female interns and 18 male interns. They’ve decided to use the same recruiting style for full-time hires too.
Previous studies have demonstrated a racial and gender bias in hiring among science, technology, engineering and math roles. One study showed that female and minority ethnic candidates with a 4.0 GPA were ranked the same as white men with a 3.75 GPA when hiring for STEM roles. Another study suggested that African American and Asian American candidates who “whitened” their resumes were more likely to be called for an interview.
“We know that we’ve got this huge untapped talent out there,” Tammy Palmer, head of people at Health Data Research UK, told Bloomberg. “We’re trying to break down that sense that you have to be a certain kind of person, that you have to have been to a certain kind of university, to become a scientist.”
