Workshop 9 (half day)
Recent Practical, Methodological and Statistical Advances in the Detection of Adverse Impact and Test Bias
Presenters: James L. Outtz, Outtz and Associates
Paul J. Hanges, University of Maryland
Coordinator: Marcus Dickson, Wayne State University
The concept of adverse impact is of keen interest to most I-O psychologists interested in organizational staffing and employment selection. Although an increasing number of articles in I-O-related journals are devoted to this topic, few offer a comprehensive exploration of current methodological, statistical, and practical developments in this area. For example, biogenetic research indicates that race is a social construct with no scientific definition. What are the implications of this research for race-based adverse impact in employment selection? Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard University, created a firestorm by suggesting that women are genetically less suited for careers in science and math than men. Is there adverse impact based on gender in the selection procedures that determine career opportunities in science, math, and engineering? Post 9/11, there has been an increase in the number of discrimination claims based on religion. Has there been a significant increase in adverse impact based on religion in the realm of employment selection? Under what circumstances does adverse impact constitute employment discrimination?
To date, most of the psychological literature on adverse impact has been descriptive in nature (e.g., descriptive taxonomies of subgroup differences based on various demographic characteristics) without addressing the underlying cause(s). This workshop will focus on the identification and measurement of adverse impact across a wide range of demographic categories including race, gender, ethnicity, age, and religion. Participants will be provided the opportunity to compare and contrast the scientific treatment of adverse impact within the profession of I-O
psychology (as expressed in documents such as the SIOP Principles and the APA
Standards) and practical/legal standards that define adverse impact (e.g., The Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection
Procedures). This workshop will be of primary interest to (a) researchers and academicians interested in the scientific underpinnings of subgroup differences; (b) practitioners involved in day to day employment selection decisions; (c) policy makers in both public and private sector organizations who must determine the goals and vision of their organization with regard employment selection; (d) government policy makers and regulators who have regulatory oversight with regard to the employment practices of American corporations; and (e) students who wish to become knowledgeable with regard to the issues underlying the adverse impact debate.
This workshop is designed to help participants:
- Compare and contrast methodological, statistical, and practical issues associated with the identification and measurement of adverse impact
- Compare and contrast the status of adverse impact in the SIOP Principles,
APA Standards, and the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
- Discuss the difference between adverse impact and bias
- Explain the difference between adverse impact and fairness
- Describe the difference between adverse impact and discrimination
- Integrate current research and practice regarding the measurement and identification of adverse impact
James L. Outtz is president of Outtz and Associates where his areas of specialization include the development, validation, and evaluation of personnel selection practices and procedures. He has been active for many years in the use of multi-media (e.g., video, telephony, audio) to develop personnel selection procedures that minimize adverse impact. He has been active in SIOP where he is a Fellow and served on the Committee for the Revision of the
Principles for the Validation and Use of Personnel Selection Procedures. He chairs the M. Scott Myers Award Committee and is a consulting editor to the
Journal of Applied Psychology. Beyond his extensive service to SIOP, Jim has served on the Board on Testing and Assessment, Commission of Behavioral and Social Sciences of the National Research Council. He has authored of numerous publications including book chapters, journal articles and book reviews. He has presented at SIOP and given lectures and presentations throughout the U.S. and internationally. Jim maintains an active involvement in scholarly research on adverse impact issues as a member of the Adverse Impact Research Group at the University of Maryland. Jim is a nationally recognized expert in the area of employment selection and has testified as an expert witness in numerous employment litigation cases. He received his PhD from the University of Maryland in 1976.
Paul J. Hanges is a professor of I-O psychology and chair of the I-O area at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on topics in personnel selection and test fairness, research methodology, social cognition, and cross-cultural leadership. This work has appeared in such journals as
Applied Psychological Measurement, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Educational and Psychological Measurement, Human Performance, Journal of Applied Psychology, The Leadership Quarterly, and Psychology Bulletin. He is a co-principal investigator of the GLOBE project. The first book describing the results of this multinational, multilevel leadership project was recently published (House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2004). He has developed selection systems for organizations in the public and private sector. Paul is currently on the editorial board of the
Journal of Applied Psychology and The Leadership Quarterly. He received his PhD from the University of Akron and has been a faculty member at the University of Maryland since 1986.
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