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    Developing unbiased artificial intelligence in recruitment and selection : a processual framework : a dissertation presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2022) Soleimani, Melika
    For several generations, scientists have attempted to build enhanced intelligence into computer systems. Recently, progress in developing and implementing Artificial Intelligence (AI) has quickened. AI is now attracting the attention of business and government leaders as a potential way to optimise decisions and performance across all management levels from operational to strategic. One of the business areas where AI is being used widely is the Recruitment and Selection (R&S) process. However, in spite of this tremendous growth in interest in AI, there is a serious lack of understanding of the potential impact of AI on human life, society and culture. One of the most significant issues is the danger of biases being built into the gathering and analysis of data and subsequent decision-making. Cognitive biases occur in algorithmic models by reflecting the implicit values of the humans involved in defining, coding, collecting, selecting or using data to train the algorithm. The biases can then be self-reinforcing using machine learning, causing AI to engage in ‘biased’ decisions. In order to use AI systems to guide managers in making effective decisions, unbiased AI is required. This study adopted an exploratory and qualitative research design to explore potential biases in the R&S process and how cognitive biases can be mitigated in the development of AI-Recruitment Systems (AIRS). The classic grounded theory was used to guide the study design, data gathering and analysis. Thirty-nine HR managers and AI developers globally were interviewed. The findings empirically represent the development process of AIRS, as well as technical and non-technical techniques in each stage of the process to mitigate cognitive biases. The study contributes to the theory of information system design by explaining the phase of retraining that correlates with continuous mutability in developing AI. AI is developed through retraining the machine learning models as part of the development process, which shows the mutability of the system. The learning process over many training cycles improves the algorithms’ accuracy. This study also extends the knowledge sharing concepts by highlighting the importance of HR managers’ and AI developers’ cross-functional knowledge sharing to mitigate cognitive biases in developing AIRS. Knowledge sharing in developing AIRS can occur in understanding the essential criteria for each job position, preparing datasets for training ML models, testing ML models, and giving feedback, retraining, and improving ML models. Finally, this study contributes to our understanding of the concept of AI transparency by identifying two known cognitive biases  similar-to-me bias and stereotype bias  in the R&S process that assist in assessing the ML model outcome. In addition, the AIRS process model provides a good understanding of data collection, data preparation and training and retraining the ML model and indicates the role of HR managers and AI developers to mitigate biases and their accountability for AIRS decisions. The development process of unbiased AIRS offers significant implications for the human resource field as well as other fields/industries where AI is used today, such as the education system and insurance services, to mitigate cognitive biases in the development process of AI. In addition, this study provides information about the limitations of AI systems and educates human decision makers (i.e. HR managers) to avoid building biases into their systems in the first place.
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    Diversity in New Zealand organisations : a case study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Voon, Jessica
    Workplace diversity has become a hot topic in organisations worldwide. Although many organisations have expressed a commitment to diversity, the trade-off between the positive and negative outcomes of diverse workgroups are creating challenges for organisations to manage. As a result, very little progress has been made in terms of actual hiring of under- represented groups. In New Zealand, the higher unemployment rates for those identifying as Māori and Asian, and the under-representation of women in male-dominated occupations, are major considerations for organisations striving to achieve diversity in their workgroups. Names presented on resumes have been showed to act as cues to the ethnicity and gender of the candidate, which trigger cognitive processes such as social categorisation, stereotypes, and biases. This study aims to explore the cognitive processes that can affect selection decisions during resume screening and whether these effects are related to participants’ perceived diversity outcomes; whether they perceive diversity as beneficial or threatening to workgroup outcomes. A total of 233 participants from a New Zealand organisation completed an online hypothetical resume screening task asking them to select 4 candidates from a list of 12, who varied in gender, ethnicity, and level of experience. Participants completed 3 separate assessment types: competence, social fit, and interview shortlist. Following on from this task, participants indicated their agreement with a series of sentences designed to measure their perceptions regarding cultural and gender diversity outcomes in the workplace, before providing their demographic information. The findings indicated that biases and stereotypes are still likely to exist during selection decisions, in much subtler forms. Māori and Asian candidates are disadvantaged compared to equally qualified NZ/European candidates, and men are likely to perceive less benefits and more threats from diversity than women. Greater perceived benefits from diversity did influence the preference for diversity when selecting candidates. These findings have significant implications at an individual, organisational and societal level, and those tasked with hiring need to be aware of the processes that can influence selection during resume screening.
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    Social media for selection : are New Zealanders prepared? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Psychology, at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) McPherson, Kirsty
    Personnel selection is a process which most people go through in their life. Job seeking is also a process which most people experience and there are many ways in which people are able to find new jobs as well as information about organisations they want to work for. Social media has a significant impact in many New Zealanders’ daily lives. As people are spending so much of their time online it is commonly believed among recruiters that one’s social media presence can be informative in terms of what people may be like as employees (Berkelaar, 2014; Berkelaar, 2017; Bogen & Rieke, 2018; Doherty, 2010; Jeske & Shultz, 2015; Kashi, Zheng, & Molinaux, 2016). This study aimed to explore New Zealanders’ perceptions of the use of social media as both a job seeking tool and as a selection tool. Through conducting individual interviews and one focus group, a thematic analysis was conducted to explore New Zealanders’ experiences with social media in job seeking and selection. Overall, job seekers found social media a useful tool to find jobs and gather information about organisations they were interested in to curate their CVs and prepare to apply. However, many job seekers had negative perceptions of organisations in terms of organisational justice when social media was used for selection decisions. For recruiters, social media was a useful tool in searching ‘red flags’ in order to cut down candidate lists to the most suitable applicants. The results of this study suggest that job seekers should be aware of the potential for organisations to screen their social media and be prepared for it. For organisations, the results suggest that social media can be a good tool for advertising roles and presenting themselves positively, however they need to take into account the negative impression they may create if using social media during selection.
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    A psychological study of the relationship between personality assessment for selection and change in self-perception : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2018) Waldron, Catherine
    The use of personality assessments in employee selection is a growing global trend. However, there are numerous controversies in the literature regarding its utility and potential impacts. In addition, many of the ways in which personality assessments are being used in selection are neither aligned with research evidence, nor constrained by a code of ethics or extensive training. The selection process itself is not focused on the wellbeing on job applicants. This is one possible reason why little to no research has investigated the potential effects of personality assessment for selection on job applicants’ self-perception. A review of the literature reveals several possible mechanisms for occupational personality assessment as an antecedent to change in self-perception, including positive and negative events, induced behaviour and biased scanning, and response construction. This thesis investigates the relationship between the assessment of an individual’s personality, and change to that individual’s self-perception, across two independent sub-projects. In Sub-project A, self-perception was assessed for a group of job applicants before and after completion of a personality assessment within a selection process. In Sub-project B, self-perception was assessed for a group of students before and after completion of a personality assessment and receipt of a written results/feedback report. The findings for both sub-projects demonstrate evidence of change to self-perception and support for personality assessment for selection as an antecedent to change in self-perception. Possible explanations for these results are examined in relation to the mechanisms listed above. The limitations of the current studies are discussed and avenues for future research are recommended. Sub-projects A and B represent a unique contribution to the literature in relation to both personality assessment in organisational settings, and self-perception change.
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    An evaluation of self assessment on personality tests for personnel selection : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology, at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1992) Morgan, Nicola M
    Personality tests are used commonly throughout the world as a tool for personnel selection. However, such use of these tests has caused much controversy among psychologists, with a number of researchers finding they have poor validity in predicting job performance. The present study proposed to cast further doubt on the use of personality tests for personnel selection by showing that people are able to predict their personalities as measured by personality tests, and can do so without responding in a socially desirable way. Three experiments were performed. In experiment one the subjects did the Sixteen Personality Factors Questionnaire (16PF) and did their self assessments on the 16PF profile form. The subjects in experiment two followed the same procedure using the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). The subjects in the third experiment were asked to describe an ideal person via the use of the profile forms for the 16PF and CPI. These results were used to see whether the subjects in experiment one and two had responded in a socially desirable way when doing their self assessments. It was found that people are not very accurate at evaluating their personalities as measured by personality tests. Social desirability was not a major problem. For the 16PF five significant correlations were found between subjects' self assessment and personality test scores (p <0.01) and nine factors were found to be responded to in a socially desirable way. For the CPI this was six and five respectively. No moderators were found. It is concluded that although subjects were not very accurate at assessing their personalities as measured by personality tests, doubt is cast over their use as a selection tool, because the question of which is more accurate, the personality test or the person's self assessment has not been answered.
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    A meta-analysis on the validity of personality tests used for personnel selection : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1990) Ng, Eugene
    For decades, personality tests have been commonly used as one of the tools for personnel selection. However, through the use of various validity generalization techniques, researchers have claimed that they have very poor validity in predicting job performance. These claims were made by Guion and Gottier (1965), Ghiselli (1973), and Schmitt, Gooding, Noe and Kirsch (1984). Each of these researchers used different statistical techniques and methodologies to reach their conclusions. The latest study by Schmitt et al. (1984), used a statistical validity generalization technique called meta-analysis. Based on data collected from only two journal publications they claimed that personality tests had a validity of .15. The present study tested the conclusions of the Schmitt et al. (1984) study, by re-analysing the same data using a more accurate meta-analysis technique and by incorporating a larger data base. In addition to this, any new data from 1952 up to 1990 was included in an overall analysis to find out the current validity of personality tests. A flexible coding technique which interacted with a computerised data base allowed any combination of data to be separately analysed. This made it possible to discover which types of personality tests worked best in differing situations such as different sample types and criterion measures. Results of the Schmitt et al. (1984) re-analysis showed that by correcting coefficients for unreliability, the overall validity was significantly higher than the Schmitt et al. (1984) result. A separate analysis revealed that vocational tests had the highest validity of the six personality test types. The sample-types with the highest validities were Supervisory and Skilled workers. The best criterion-types were in the "Other" category whereby measures were developed specifically for the type of job. The overall analysis incorporating 38 years of research showed that personality tests had a validity of .22. This was significantly higher than the figure quoted by Schmitt et al. (1984). Results showed that personality tests in their present state are generally poor predictors of job performance, however when they are modified to become more job specific, their validity improves. It is suggested that in the future, personality tests should be specifically designed for the purpose of personnel selection and for specific jobs.
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    The in basket test as practical psychology : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1982) Smith, Michael Charles
    The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate the value of the in basket test as practical psychology. Practical psychology is defined as applied psychology that is used by practitioners. In the case of personnel selection the practitioners are those who select people for work; this includes a large number and a wide variety of people. For the in basket test to be regarded as practical psychology it was hypothesised that a single variable method of overall assessment of performance on the in basket test should be as good as a multivariate method; the in basket test should be reliable; the single variable approach should be a valid method of assessing performance on the test; and the validity of the in basket test should be demonstrated in an industrial setting. Four studies were conducted to test these hypotheses; a reliability study, a factor analytic study, an assessment of the validity of the in basket test using discriminant analysis, and a study of the test in a meat freezing works. It was concluded that the single variable method of overall assessment of performance on the in basket test was as good as the multivariate method. It was argued that there were inherent difficulties in establishing the reliability of the in basket test, but inter scorer reliability was demonstrated. It was shown that the single variable of overall assessment on the in basket test was valid. The study conducted in a meat freezing works showed that the in basket could be used validly in an industrial setting. As a result of the research and a review of other personnel selection methods and their relationship to practical psychology, it was concluded that work sample tests need to be promoted more psychologists as useful selection methods in industry.
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    An evaluation of self-assessment for personnel selection in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1988) George, David Ian
    Personnel selection decisions in New Zealand and other countries are commonly made by the employer. Although applicants have as much, if not more to gain or lose from a selection decision, they are rarely allowed to contribute to the decision making process as an equal party to a contract. Psychological theory and research shows that while there are a number of factors which moderate the accuracy ot self-judgments, individuals are capable of assessing their own abilities and performance, particularly in work and work related settings. To examine the acceptability and validity of self-assessment for New Zealand institutional personnel selection, 69 organisations were asked to include self-assessment in their selection procedures. Self-assessment was implemented in 14 of the 69 organisations. These organisations had agreed to cooperate and expected sufficiently large recruitment levels to make the research feasible. Of the 14 settings, four completed the project providing sufficient data for an evaluation of validity ot self-assessment. In addition to examining the relationship of self-assessment with work performance criteria, a number of possible moderator variables were examined. The results ot this research showed firstly, that few New Zealand practitioners considered self-assessment could be a useful part of their selection procedures, secondly, the validity offered by self-assessment was poor, and thirdly, no moderator effects were detected consistently across the studies conducted in different settings. It appears that until practitioners in New Zealand and elsewhere allow candidates to collaborate in selection decisions, the demand characteristics of the traditional selection situation will hamper accurate self-assessment.