hiring screening algorithms

Algorithmic Monocultures in Hiring: Racial Disparities and Homogeneous Rejection Patterns

A study of 3 million applicants and 4 million applications screened by algorithms from the same vendor finds significant racial disparities: 14.74% of Asian applicants and 25.87% of Black applicants submit to positions where the algorithm adversely impacts their group under U.S. employment discrimination standards. The paper also documents individual-level homogeneity, with 4% of applicants who apply to 10 positions receiving rejection recommendations from all of them—a rate above chance. The authors use deterministic replicability of hiring algorithms to simulate counterfactual outcomes, showing applicants would need to apply very broadly to receive human review.