

Ask HN: Hacks to eliminate gender bias in hiring? - webmaven

Orchestras that audition musicians behind a screen eliminate gender bias and start hiring more women[1]. For various reasons, it would be difficult to do blind auditions for technical positions such as software development, but I started wondering if there might be other ways to hack the hiring process to eliminate (or at least compensate for) unconscious gender bias. Any ideas?<p>[1] http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;women-in-leadership&#x2F;2013&#x2F;oct&#x2F;14&#x2F;blind-auditions-orchestras-gender-bias
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webmaven
Here is one such idea: Since referrals by existing employees are one of the
best ways to get high-quality candidates, what if male candidates _had_ to be
referred by a female employee to be considered (or conversely, that male
employees could only refer female candidates)? This idea was partly inspired
by women-friendly technology events where men are welcome to attend, but only
if they are brought as guests of female attendees.

