It's an issue which threatens to derail authentic hiring practices
Despite some progress in recent years, unconscious bias impacts a wide range of demographics, including those living with disability.
ABS statistics show a current labour force participation rate for people with disability (aged 15–64 years) close to 30 percentage points lower than other Australians.
The research found labour force participation rates for people aged 15 -64 years stand at 56.6% for men with disability compared to 88.5% for men without disability, while labour force participation for women with disability is only 49%, compared to 76.5% for women without disability.
They are worrying statistics, not just because 20% of Australians currently have one or more disability, but there is much research to suggest there are a huge amount of benefits in hiring people with disability.
For example, a Telstra study found that employees with disability stayed with the company for an average of 4.1 years, compared to 3.2 years for employees without disability. And over 90% of employers who had recently employed a person with disability said they would be happy to continue to employ people with disability
While business leaders say they want to create open and inclusive workplaces, the data suggests this isn’t happening enough, according to Debbie Brooks national diversity employer manager, atWork Australia.
“Those with a disability are less likely to land a job than the average Australian. As such, we see unconscious bias playing an underlying role in recruitment choices,” added Brooks.
Read more: It doesn’t cost more to hire someone with a disability
“While unconscious biases can be damaging, it is important to understand that they are not malicious in their intent. Unconscious biases are social stereotypes that we all create to help us to understand and categorise the world around us, based on our past experiences.
“With the current unemployment rate rising and companies receiving higher volumes of applications for job vacancies, it’s critical that employers remain open-minded, particularly when reviewing applications and CVs to avoid limiting their accessing a broader talent pool.”
To address unconscious bias, Brooks said companies must proactively take a structured approach to recruitment that utilises all available information on candidates and “avoid ill-informed snap decisions”.
“Training in disability awareness is a great first step to unravelling unconscious bias because it not only allows you to realise that everyone possesses unconscious biases but assists you to identify your own.”
Read more: How businesses can flourish by hiring someone with disability
Brooks offers the following advice to remove unconscious bias from the recruitment process:
Make data driven decisions
Making decisions based on fact and data, and not personal opinion is vital. Reconsider the rationale behind an initial decision to establish if all facts were considered or if biases have crept in.
Standardise the interview process
Structure interviews, so candidates are asked the same set of questions to minimise biases and focus on the factors that matter to the role. Not having a standardised approach during an interview can lead to a preference for people within your own demographics and not necessarily the best person for the job.
Remove gendered wording
With recent years showing only 49% of women with disability participating in the labour force, compared to 57% for men with disability, deep rooted beliefs about gender roles and stereotypes are still prevalent. Employers need to encourage more females to apply, which can be done by writing gender-neutral job vacancies, removing gender specific job titles and any masculine words such as ‘manpower’.
Build an interview panel
Involve other team members in the interview process so there are varied perspectives. This can be very powerful in preventing one another’s unconscious biases from rising to the surface, and to keep an open mind in the recruitment process.
Change up the processes
Blind interviews for instance, are a great example of removing identifying information from job applications, such as name, gender, age, disability, and even schools, in favour of focusing on skills, abilities and experience alone.
