Using artificial intelligence (AI) for hiring doesn’t always pay off, as Amazon learned. For some, however, it’s a worthy investment. Nearly all Fortune 500 companies use automation to support the hiring process, according to Penn State University researchers. Further, LinkedIn found in a 2018 report (registration required) that 76 percent feel AI’s impact on recruiting will be at least somewhat significant. Using AI in hiring can be beneficial, but it’s important to know that it's not something your company can just dive into, there are some key considerations to be aware of, experts warn.
The implementation of AI in the hiring process must be carefully monitored by the people behind the technology to avoid biases. “Companies are using AI assessment tools to attract, screen and hire employees in new ways,” Lynette Yarger, associate professor of information sciences and technology at Penn State, said on her university’s website. “These tools have not been thoroughly tested under the law and raise concerns about the potential for bias, fairness, transparency and accuracy.”
A $225,000 federal government grant to researchers at Penn State for recruiting software development comes on the heels of the disclosure that in 2017 Amazon shut down its experimental hiring tool that used artificial intelligence to search for candidates for technical positions because the AI wasn’t doing so in a gender-neutral way.
The Penn State research team believes AI tools being used to attract, screen and hire employees are deficient. According to project lead Dr. Lynette Yarger: “These tools have not been thoroughly tested under the law and raise concerns about the potential for bias, fairness, transparency and accuracy.” She continued, “When algorithms make inferences about applicants’ age, race, religion and sex, it is difficult to determine if firms are adhering to federal laws that protect job applicants against discrimination.”
Chances are that artificial intelligence played a role in your last job search — and possibly even determined whether or not you got an offer — without you even knowing. According to Lynette Yarger, associate professor of information sciences and technology, nearly all Fortune 500 companies use some form of automation to support the hiring process. But are these tools biased?
The Boston University Student Health Services Wellness and Prevention Center. A new study underscored the need for an increase in mental health services, as well as how mobile technologies can help do so. RACHEL SHARPLES/ DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Increasing demand for counseling services is one of the most-discussed mental health issues facing college students, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of Medical Internet Research Mental Health.
Many research studies have been devoted to college students’ mental health and a lack of campus resources to help them. Now researchers, curious about what contributed to these issues, have decided to analyze numerous studies. They found that common contributing factors to students' mental-health challenges were race, violence and sexual assault.
IMAGE: CEU. Shared under a Creative Commons license.
A text mining analysis of academic and news articles related to mental health issues in higher education finds that racism, violence and sexual assault are key contributors to mental health challenges for students. The research also highlights the need for mental health services, and outlines some ways that mobile technologies may be able to help address these needs.
IMAGE: CEU. Shared under a Creative Commons license.
A text mining analysis of academic and news articles related to mental health issues in higher education finds that racism, violence and sexual assault are key contributors to mental health challenges for students. The research also highlights the need for mental health services, and outlines some ways that mobile technologies may be able to help address these needs.
Black female college students were often unlikely to use online resources related to HIV prevention, due to the stigma associated with the disease and concerns that their social network would learn they were accessing HIV-related materials.
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professions are some of the most lucrative and sought-after careers in the U.S., but black men are largely absent from those fields. Lynette (Kvasny) Yarger, an associate professor at Penn State’s College of Information Sciences and Technology, is investigating the social, cultural and economic factors that cause some black men to shy away from information technology (IT) careers and others to succeed in them.
Expanding the range of black men’s career options in an increasingly technology-oriented world will help alleviate high unemployment and poverty they often experience, according to a study examining the career paths of successful black men in college.
The study comes at a time when minority college students who take STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) jobs may earn at least 50 percent more than their peers studying humanities or education, yet black men comprise only 2.2 percent of those working in information technology (IT) occupations.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, researchers from Washington State University and Pennsylvania State University studied undergraduate black men enrolled in IT disciplines in four historically black colleges and universities to see what motivated them to achieve academically, attend college, and pursue IT careers. Participants were also asked to reflect upon how their gender and ethnicity shaped their educational experiences and career choices.
