When I began exploring ways I could contribute to the conversation about organizational culture and diversity and inclusion, my first instincts were telling me to focus my research on the most obvious problems like race, ethnicity, and gender. I wanted to see if I could identify new lines of inquiry, new solutions, or connect the dots in ways that others haven’t connected them before. Without even going too deep into the existing literature, what I found was decades of research and thousands of great ideas and potential solutions, but hardly any real progress where it matters most. After reading Ian Bogost’s article “The Problem with Diversity in Computing” and the contributions of my classmates, especially Sherri’s post on Algorithm-Driven Hiring Tools, I was inspired to turn my focus in a new direction to investigate the hidden biases that we might be building into today’s HR technologies. Coincidentally, I had recently taken an online personality test as part of an application for a job at my local golf course, which struck me as an odd requirement. Although the problems of the past are still with us, I fear that we might be creating new problems as organizations adopt new technologies without understanding how they work or what the risks are. After watching the documentary Persona and getting a good look at the personality testing industry, my decision to investigate this further was solidified. So the question I am trying to understand is: Are artificial intelligence technologies in human resources going to make organizations more diverse and inclusive, or will they make things worse?
There are several reasons why this question interests me. On a personal level, I have always thought of myself as a square peg, because of a birth injury, my ethnicity, my struggles with learning, and other aspects of who I am. Like most young adults, I want to fit in but I also want to be myself. I worry that artificial intelligence algorithms are being built that will limit opportunities for people like me before we even have a chance to prove ourselves in the work force. As a business major, I also want to understand how “people technologies” work and how they can be ethically used, the same way I need to understand how finance, accounting, marketing, investing, and other business technologies work. As the world gets more data driven, I want to understand the ramifications of artificial intelligence so I can be a better decision maker in my future career.
This inquiry connects directly with material from a Fundamentals of Management course I took last semester. In that course, we did three separate units on organizational culture (which focused on vision and values), diversity and inclusion (which focused on hiring practices and company policies), and personality (which focused on the advantages and limitations of personality tests). At the time, I did not see the linkages between these topics, which were spread out over 14 weeks. Now I clearly do. Last semester, the focus was mainly on improving performance, and technology was not discussed in depth regarding the three units above. But from the research I have done so far, I can see technology is going to change everything about human resources, and that means it’s going impact everything about an organization’s culture. With two years left at Whitman, I believe what I learn because of this research project will help me be a better student in my future business classes, and ultimately a better employee after I graduate.
My research takes place at the intersection of human resources management, organizational culture, diversity and inclusion, artificial intelligence, data analytics, personality assessment, and employment law. To begin my search for sources, I used SU library’s Summon Search to locate scholarly as well as professional and trade journal sources. Using Google, I was able to locate additional sources, including articles in newspapers and on trusted industry websites for the American Bar Association and Society for Human Resources Management, for example. By using LinkedIn, I found some articles, blog posts, and TED talks by faculty or industry professionals that didn’t appear in any other search results. While watching Persona, I took notes to capture potential quotes I could use, as well as noted the names of people to do further research on. I have also searched on YouTube to find relevant videos, which I plan to watch to gather more subject matter expert quotes. And finally, my searches have also led me to firms selling the artificial intelligence technology products for human resources. I have found it interesting to see the language they use when they market their products and may be able to use some of it. Overall, I have found lots of great material. The next steps of my research plan are to carefully review my sources, take notes and annotate them, and then organize them for easy access.
It’s helpful to hear about the origins of your interest in this topic, as it seems to lay out your path a bit. I think that the sort of rhetorical analysis you mention here (looking at how these firms market their AI products) is especially intriguing, and offers you a way to inject something new into the conversation. I’m looking forward to seeing how this develops.