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2 - Complex and Sticky Issues in Assessment and Selection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2021

Adrian Furnham
Adrian Furnham
Affiliation:
University of London
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Summary

The whole process of assessment and job selection is becoming considerably more complicated. There are more choices of methods and great differences in costs. Perhaps one of the hottest topics addressed in this chapter is that of bias, discrimination and fairness. The way an organisation goes about assessment is a matter of PR as candidates and competitors see it as a statement about a company’s philosophy and values. The chapter discusses, as an example, the data which suggest that physically attractive people have undue advantages in the selection process. Assessors and selectors have to become mindful of the perception and reaction of those being assessed, and particularly changes in the law which varies from country to country. The business of selection has to be much more than choosing test methods on fundamental psychometric criteria or economic constraints. Ways of dealing with and reducing bias are considered.

Keywords

Acceptability of methodsAccepting feedbackAttractivenessBiasCandidates perspectiveDiscriminationLegal considerationsPreferences for methodsReactions to assessmentUnconscious bias.
Type
Chapter
Information
Twenty Ways to Assess Personnel
Different Techniques and their Respective Advantages
 , pp. 45 - 74
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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