As the modern workplace emphasizes diversity, hiring people from different racial backgrounds is more important than ever. When we have a racially diverse workforce, we benefit from various perspectives and experiences. This leads to better problem-solving, increased innovation, and happier employees.
Awareness of the latest studies on race-focused hiring helps HR keep tabs on the developments and adjust diversity hiring strategies.
Here are 5 of the latest racial diversity recruiting stats:
- According to Pew Research Center, 64% of Black Americans describe bias and unfair treatment based on a job seeker’s race or ethnicity as a big problem, compared with 49% of Asians and 41% of Hispanic applicants. And some 56% of Black Americans view racial or ethnic bias in employee assessments compared with 40% of Asian and 40% of Hispanic employees. Plus, some 20% of Black Americans that see racial bias and unfair treatment in recruitment as a problem say AI would make things worse, compared with about 10% of Hispanic and 10% of Asian job seekers.
- A National Bureau of Economic Research study suggests systemic racial discrimination during hiring still happens. Researchers sent more than 80,000 fake job applications for all entry-level roles to Fortune 500 companies. The experiment revealed that, on average, applicants with Black names were 10% less likely to receive a callback than applicants with White names.
- Payscale’s Racial Pay Gap report reveals that African American men earn $0.88 for every dollar a white man earns. When all employment characteristics are equal, Black or African American men still see the most significant pay gap. Similarly, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics cites that Black and Latinx workers have the lowest weekly median income. Asian workers earned the most, followed by White, Black, and Latinx employees.
- Gallup’s Center on Black Voices discovers that about one in four Black (24%) and Hispanic (24%) workers in the US said they experienced workplace discrimination in the past year (2021).
- National Center for Education Statistics research cites that in all cases where educational attainment was limited to an associate’s degree or less, white employees earned more than Asian ones. Similarly, Black workers with an associate’s degree or lower made less than Latinx or Asian employees.
Despite the little progress toward supporting an inclusive workplace, companies should still strive to achieve racial diversity in their workforce. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it also helps organizations succeed.
And it should start during the hiring process. Here are some tips to help attract more racially-diverse candidates:
- Use inclusive language when crafting job descriptions. Below are general guidelines to remember:
- Never mention a preference for a certain race or ethnicity
- Avoid phrases like clean-shaven that exclude candidates whose faith requires them to maintain facial hair (this phrase also suggests that the position is for men only).
- Avoid “native English speakers” since people can be fluent in a language without being “native” to a particular country. Instead, use fluent in English or proficient in English.
- Avoid legal citizens only or illegal, as in “No illegals may apply”. Instead, use “No undocumented immigrants or refugees may apply” or “Must be authorized to work in this country.”
- Use Latinx instead of Latino or Latina, which refers to Hispanic men or women.
For more tips check out our Inclusive Language List for Job Ads and Top 10 Terms with Bias Toward POC [in Job Descriptions].
And don’t forget to review and test job descriptions. Use tools that scan your JDs and help eliminate any discriminatory language. Check out 10+ Tools for Eliminating Racial Bias for a list of tools.
- Focus on skills and qualifications: Emphasize the skills and experience required for the job. Be specific about the skills needed rather than using subjective or vague terms.
- Avoid unnecessary requirements: Be mindful of including only the qualifications that are truly essential for the position. Excessive conditions may exclude certain groups of candidates.
- Be conscious of cultural context: Consider how different cultures or backgrounds may interpret specific phrases or requirements. Avoid using idioms or colloquialisms that might be unfamiliar to some candidates during the hiring process. Ensure that the language used is clear and understandable by various applicants.
- Collaborate with a diverse team: Involve various individuals, including people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, in the job description creation process. Their perspectives can help identify unintentional biases and provide valuable insights for crafting an inclusive description. And have interviewers from different racial groups in your company to make applicants feel at ease during the job interviews. It also prevents unconscious bias because the interviewers see common ground with the applicants.
- Conduct blind screening by removing identifying information from resumes and evaluating them solely based on qualifications. This approach can help ensure that your job descriptions and selection processes are fair and unbiased.
- Leverage inclusive sourcing channels: Advertise on platforms and channels that attract diverse candidates. Reach out to various professional organizations, universities, job boards, and communities to broaden your candidate pool. Participate in diversity-focused job boards and job fairs specific to candidates from underrepresented groups.
- Educate your team: Provide training and education to hiring managers and recruiters on the importance of avoiding bias in job descriptions and the overall recruitment process. Awareness and understanding of bias helps foster a more inclusive hiring environment.
- Review recruitment results to see if hiring procedures yield more racially diverse candidates. Look at the racial diversity in the candidate pool or the number of applications received from Black, Hispanic, Asian, and other racial groups. Also, check the racial diversity of applicants hired or the number of job offers extended to Black, Hispanic, Asian individuals, and different racial backgrounds.
Why I wrote this:
Racial diversity is essential to creating diverse and inclusive job descriptions.
By staying informed about current trends and updates on racial diversity in hiring, recruiters can adjust their hiring techniques to actively attract and engage candidates from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Ongig supports diversity hiring by helping recruiters create compelling, racially-inclusive job descriptions. Please request a demo to learn more.
