(http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2015/05/13/3657911/unitive-hiring-bias/)
that a technology company has
been created to help employers overcome unconscious bias in their hiring of new
employees. Laura Mather, the
brainchild of this new software, faced bias in hiring over a decade ago when
she applied to work in Google’s Risk Management division. She had graduated college 12 years
before. She had amassed a wealth
of on-the-job training and learning, but Google’s CEO almost didn’t accept her
for the position. The reason: She
didn’t graduate from an Ivy League school.
Mather’s company, Unitive, will help employers create job
descriptions which would put all applicants at the same level. Her software focuses on an
applicant’s personal skills, assuring that other information doesn’t influence
the rating of a candidate’s actual abilities and talents. At the time of an interview, Mather admits, biases can intervene,
such as an inclination to hire someone because of the university which he or
she attended as well as other considerations. Mather notes that it is more difficult to combat bias
in hiring today, because much of it is unconscious rather than overt. She believes that much work still needs
to be done. For example, Mather noted
that 40% of those with degrees in technology are women, but women hold just
over 25% of the jobs in that field.
In addition, black students make
up 4.5 percent of computer science or engineering graduates and Hispanics
make up 6.5 percent. Respectively,
they make up just 2 percent and 3 percent of technology employees at Silicon
Valley companies. Mather commented: “What I would hate to see happen is that we
spend a ton of money and resources and effort on the pipeline…and then when
they get to the doors of these organizations, the unconscious bias in the
hiring process means that they don’t have the same opportunity.”
Mather’s company, Unitive, is interested in
contributing to positive change in other ways as well, such as when society fails
to create the avenues needed to provide equal opportunity. The current blog post at Unitive views
recent events in Baltimore from a perspective not related to particular instances
of violence but based on how people invest in community life. It stated, “Nationwide, we appear to
spend more money on policing minority neighborhoods than on programs that
economically empower them. For example, even though crime rates are the lowest
they’ve been in over 30 years, the U.S. still spends more than $100
billion on police every year. The Department of Labor — charged with training
and investing in a competitive workforce, protecting workers, and assuring
income and retirement security — has a total budget that is about half that.” The
post cited programs which have been successful at increasing participation in
the work force in a way that can give hope to workers who would otherwise face
continuing poverty.
The Torah reading for this Shabbat reveals
the ancient Israelite approach to
equalizing society for reasons of spirit, compassion, and righteousness. The parashah Behar begins with the declaration of the Jubilee year every
50 years. During that year, slaves would go free, land would return to previous
owners, and debts would be forgiven. The Eitz Chayim Torah commentary explained the
purpose of this practice: “At the heart of this parashah is the visionary
concept of returning land to its original owner at the end of a 50-year
cycle. This prevents the
polarization of society into two classes: wealthy, powerful landowners on the
one hand and permanently impoverished people on the other. In an agrarian society a farmer who
sold all the land to pay debts had no prospect of ever being anything other
than a servant. Nor would a
servant’s sons ever rise above that level. Anticipating the human misery and social instability this
would lead to, the Torah provides a plan.
In the 50th year, families would reclaim the land they had
held originally and later sold.
Behind this plan are two religious assumptions. First, because all the earth and all of
its inhabitants belong to God, human beings cannot possess either the land or people
in perpetuity. Second, no human
being should be condemned to permanent servitude. Some critics have seen this as a utopian plan that never was
put into practice. Archaeologists, however, have found records of deeds from
the late biblical period containing references to the number of years remaining
until the jubilee year.” It seems that the practice was more than a theory. It
was real and, to some extent, observed as a way to deepen compassion and develop
positive interpersonal connections within the Israelite community.
The lesson both from this Torah reading and from
Laura Mather’s creation of Unitive is that each of us is more than one
particular aspect of our identity.
It suggest a specific type of lens to place before our eyes when viewing
others and ourselves. We are more than our economic potential. We are more than our city and family of
origin. We are more than the
university we attended if we went to college. Each of us is the product of the talents and abilities
that we have developed. Each of us
is the result of our life experiences. Moreover, each of us is a child of God, made in the
divine image. No one can own us,
no one has the right to project onto us their own skewed perspective of us
based on misunderstanding or prejudice. It has been taught that the Jubilee Year was intended
to restore a sense of unity among the Israelites in a spiritual sense, which
sees each of us as unique, with gifts to give others that are all our own. Our value comes from what we share
of our essence, our kindness, and our generosity. The meaning in our lives comes not from the power we
wield and keep but from the love and respect that we show and that we engender
in others. This view of our
essence should not just be God’s perspective; it should be ours as well. So may we continue to give each other
strength, comfort, support, and warmth. The text of this Torah reading
declares, “Proclaim DROR – a release – or freedom – throughout the land to all
the inhabitants.” In that
spirit, may we create a world in which each of us can be free to be who we are
and offer our best selves to the human family that so sorely needs our help and
our hope.
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