Data in Diversity and Inclusion: CDS Professor speaks at DIRC20

Diversity and inclusion are a vital component to creating a safe and productive environment for all members of our community to study, research, and build networks. This importance of diversity in education and in the workplace was what led to the creation of the Diversity & Inclusion Research Conference (DIRC) in 2018. DIRC is a joint collaboration between Aleria, ARC, and QSDI and seeks to “[bring] together researchers, industry professionals and other community leaders in order to foster increased collaboration to drive progress in workplaces, communities and society at large.”

This past November CDS Professor, Andrea Jones-Rooy, presented a talk at DIRC20 called The Impact of Talent Measurement on Diversity. According to Professor Jones-Rooy the talk aims to educate hiring managers on how bias can enter into their hiring data:

“One of the biggest challenges for employers is measuring their talent: whether it’s to screen new hires, provide annual performance reviews, or decide promotions, most employers are regularly trying to turn human skills, behaviors, and accomplishments into numbers and indices. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to let bias creep into these numbers (and deceive ourselves into thinking that because it’s a number it’s objective). In this talk, I discuss why thoughtful and rigorous talent measurement is central to diversity — and what to do about it.”

DIRC20 and Professor Jones-Rooy’s talk were also featured in a recent article in Forbes. In the article Paolo Gaudiano, one of the conference’s organizers, remarked on how the virtual format allowed for the event to reach more people. In fact, all of the talks and panels (including Professor Jones-Rooy’s) can be watched for free on the DIRC20 website.

We hope everyone takes a moment to check out all the amazing and informative content from DIRC20 and we’re so excited to see what the DIRC team will have in store for us this coming fall!