Engineer launches app to end the bias in technology jobs

Stephanie Lampkin learn how to code to 13 years. At 15, it was a complete web developer, fluent in computer programming languages. She has an engineering degree from Stanford and an MBA at MIT.

Still, she remembers having to attend eight rounds search in interviews for a job in a well-known Silicon Valley technology company, just to hear his history was "not technical enough" for a job in engineering software.

"The recruiter told me that a job in sales or marketing could open," she said. She eventually went to Microsoft, where he spent five years in a technical position. Still, she thinks that previous rejection and consider whether the fact of being an african american woman hurt your chances.

This month, Stephanie will launch an employment tool you want to remove this type of question in the technology recruitment sector.

Your app, Blender allows people seeking jobs upload resumes and then hide the name and the candidate's photo employers. The idea, said Stephanie, is to avoid unconscious bias to remove gender and ethnicity.

Throughout his research, Stephanie found a study of "National Bureau of Economic Research" showing that a name that "sounds like a white person" (Emily or Greg, for example) may result in the same amount of returns recruiters as eight years of additional experience for someone with a name that "sounds like a african-American person" (Lakisha and Jamal, in the experiment).

"It's measurable," said Stephanie. "We realized that hiding names and photos creating a safer environment. Women and blacks felt better to share your information. "

The Blendoor will be released on March 11 at SXSW, digital festival for beta testing to the public. So far, Stephanie received accessions of 19 large technology companies. It plans to have 50 in the app in the near future. She did not seek any company that had not already initiatives of diversity. Intel, for example, with its commitment of $ 300 million with diversity, was a natural choice. Just like Google, which placed US $ 150 million to expand its universe of talent. Facebook and Apple are also there.

"My company is identified more with white men when I stand as' hey, I want to help you find the best talent. Your unconscious is not racist, sexist - is totally natural, and we are trying to help you to avoid it. ' "

Stephanie hopes that women, blacks, members of the LGBT community and other minorities in Silicon Valley who can feel excluded by job search tools that display the name and photo feel comfortable using Blendoor.

"I know many successful people, educated in the Ivy League universities and african American between 35 and 45 years who refuse to use LinkedIn for fear of discrimination," she said.

"These companies are founded by white men. There is a psychology that I understand how a black woman who directed how and why we created the product in this way. "

The app will obviously collect useful statistics about who is applying to the most competitive position in the area of technology and who is being "matched" in the app language with jobs. "The Blendoor want to make companies responsible from the use of data," said Stephanie.

If all goes according to their plans, it can test the technology Blendoor in the venture capital world, where minorities - black women, especially - have made little progress.

"When you think about it, names and photos are not required for the transaction," said Stephanie. She raised $ 100,000 in investments to Blendoor. Half of that came from Pipeline Angels, a network of investors and social entrepreneurs women who founded several companies.