“Stephanie Lampkin learned to code at age 13. By 15, she was a full-stack web developer, fluent in the languages of computer programming. She has a Stanford engineering degree and an MBA from MIT.
Still, she recalls making it to the eighth round of interviews in pursuit of a gig at a well-known tech firm in Silicon Valley, only to be told her background wasn’t “technical enough” for a role in software engineering.
Her app Blendoor lets job seekers upload resumes, then hides their name and photo from employers. The idea, says Lampkin, is to circumvent unconscious bias by removing gender and ethnicity from the equation.
In the course of her research, Lampkin found a National Bureau of Economic Research study showing that a “white-sounding” name (Emily or Greg, for example) can yield as many job callbacks as an additional eight years of experience for someone with an “African-American sounding” name (Lakisha or Jamal, in the experiment).
“It’s quantifiable,” Lampkin said. “We realized that hiding names and photos created a safer space. Women and people of color felt better sharing their information.”
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THIS IS TOO COOL!!! CURRENT MOOD:
THANK YOU STEPHANIE LAMPKIN, YOU ROCK! Here’s hoping Blendoor is a huge success.
