Overcoming Bias in Workplace Hiring for Recruitment Leaders and Candidates (Part 3 of 3)

With over thirty years in education, I believe schools, leaders, and educators overwhelmingly value diverse workplaces. This is especially true of international schools, where diverse students, staff, and the community are often a rightful point of celebration and pride.

Yet despite the acceptance of diversity in most workplaces, hiring bias is still present—both in overt and subconscious forms. This article doesn't seek to address overt bias but instead focuses on the subconscious type because that is where we, as conscientious educators, have the most power to change.? ?

As we carefully navigate a hot-button issue like this, we must remember that bias is not entirely synonymous with prejudice and discrimination. While discrimination can be a subset of bias, bias can be a far broader human reaction, which we may not even realize we have.

As we learned in Part 2 of this article series, we saw 16 types of hiring bias, much of which is subconsciously hidden, though certainly not always. In other words, we don't even realize that it's happening, so we fall for it, whether intentionally or not.?

So now, what does bias mean for us as recruitment leaders or job candidates in international schools??

Hiring Bias and Recruitment Leaders in International Schools

As recruitment leaders, our hiring bias can often be subconscious. But I believe that is not what most school leaders want to support. I know that many would be shocked to learn that is how some of their or their school's actions could be perceived. Could certain deeply held societal or cultural beliefs influence us subconsciously? Do our beliefs stem from evidence-based facts, or are they based on profoundly internalized personal values?? ?

Because of the risk of harmful fallout from unconscious hiring bias, it's essential for school leaders and their recruitment teams to purposefully review their hiring processes to determine whether biases can influence their hiring decisions. It's necessary to train members of the school's hiring team in the various types of biases. This training is not said or done as an accusation but rather to inform recruiters about how biases may impact their hiring choices. Arming leaders with knowledge about the types of bias will serve to broaden their understanding and will help them make even better hiring decisions.? ??

Many examples of hiring bias can exist in school hiring.?

• Young women make the best kindergarten teachers.
• Teachers of non-core academic subjects can't be principals.
• Kindergarten teachers don't need a master's degree.
• The accent for British, American, or Canadian English is the best.
• That good-looking teacher will make a good impression on parents.?
• Parents won't understand why we hired a teacher from that country.? ?

Bias is challenging to counter, especially when it's institutionalized. Yet, some hold the above biases close to their hearts as if they are factually accurate. However, the reliability of "fact-based evidence" to support any of these statements would be highly questionable, in my view. Someone's anecdotes may be the only circumstantial "evidence" (at best) of these beliefs.???

I believe school leaders must lead the fight in school to make wrongs right.?

As school leaders, we encourage support for high ideals through our school's vision and mission statements. Yet are they empty words meant to impress, or do they represent our quest to actualize the greater common good? I believe school leaders must lead the fight in school to make wrongs right. What if Martin Luther King, Jr., Anne Frank, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, or Rosa Parks had said this isn't my fight? Our world would be a much poorer place.? ???

How successfully leaders take on that fight relies on our understanding of the politics of leadership to achieve the most significant impact. While bluster and dramatics may garner attention, can we force people to see bias when they genuinely don't believe it exists? Because it's such an emotion-based topic, people put up their defenses when the topic is even mentioned, much less when they are forced to look in the mirror. Additionally, it always seems easier to recognize bias in others but less so in ourselves.

I believe that leadership on this topic requires a deft approach like these examples.

• Hold workshop training with your recruitment team to train about hiring bias.
• Consistently talk about the principles of fair hiring in public speeches.?
• Hold calm yet frank private discussions with colleagues who hold fast to certain biases.
• Rely on our circle of influence to make change happen. Slow and steady is the only way to win this race.?

Sometimes, our leadership requires an active voice that passionately emboldens the crowd. Other times, our whispers of private conversation will accomplish the goal. As leaders, we must develop the skill of knowing what approaches to use in a given situation that will yield the highest impact and value in order to move our institutions to a higher plane.?

Candidates and Unintentional Bias

The Statistics in Part 1 of this article series indicated that candidates overwhelmingly support diversity in the workplace and want to work in places that value that (Glassdoor, 2020 ).

Yet, bias isn't the sole domain of school leaders. Candidates can also consider how their biases can impact their employment decisions. Here are some examples.?

• I can only work in Europe.?
• Only large, brand-name, high-profile schools have quality.?
• I can only work in an English-speaking country.
• Your school is too new.
• I don't have a doctorate in my subject area, so I could never teach advanced courses.? ?
• I'm just a classroom teacher. I could never apply for a leadership role. Who'd hire me?

Many people don't apply for terrific jobs in excellent schools based on their conscious and unconscious preferences for random, inconsequential characteristics like school size or location. For example, many international educators widely perceive many European schools as highly desirable. Yet because the demand for working in them is so high, they tend to have lower pay. But what about Asia? The Middle East? Africa? Latin America? While each region can be viewed through a lens of bias, each has truly unique opportunities waiting for quality candidates to take notice.

Sometimes, candidates allege bias in hiring practices. True enough, I have seen biased situations. Yet, I've also seen candidates assert hiring bias when none existed at all, but rather, they confused rejection with bias. These are different. Rejection will happen far more in a candidate's recruitment experiences than getting job offers, and bias isn't the reason that all candidates fail to get a job. From my perspective, if, as a candidate, I felt bias was the cause of rejection, then I'd be better off not working in a place. I want to work in a place that values me for all I bring to the team.

Overcoming Unintentional Bias as Recruitment Leaders

Bias leads to beliefs that limit our choices as candidates and recruitment leaders.?

Bias leads to beliefs that limit our choices as candidates and recruitment leaders. But it doesn't have to be that way. In Part 1 of this article series, I shared a graphic about our circles of influence. To overcome subconscious hiring bias, we must focus the majority of our energy on ourselves and seek to influence others where we can.?

As a school leader and a candidate, I know that when I understood better how bias impacts hiring decisions, I grew my capacity in both areas. I became a better applicant, and as a leader, I made higher-quality hiring decisions when recruiting.?

Yet, I also know I'm a work in progress, and that is okay. Everyone can grow, whether we are job candidates or recruitment leaders. That is why I wrote the two books in my School Jobs Mastery Series, which includes my newest book, The GIFT Hiring Method: You Can Confidently Recruit Quality School Staff, which comes out in January.?

Copyright 2024 by Kelley Ridings

There are five ways I can help you prepare for your international school job search.

1. You can contact me through LinkedIn for a FREE initial consultation to learn about the online classes and coaching I offer through EduNetPro Consulting about school job searches and designing school recruitment systems.
2. My book, Teach or Lead Abroad: Easily Find Your Dream Job in International Schools, is available?on Amazon or Audible.
3. My new book, The GIFT Hiring Method: You Can Confidently Recruit Quality School Staff, will be released in January 2025 on Amazon and Audible.
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