Considering vocational interests in adverse impact: a meta-analysis of race, cognitive ability, and vocational interests

Research on adverse impact (i.e., differential hiring/selection rates between minority and majority groups in employment settings) has traditionally focused on aspects of the selection systems themselves (e.g., cognitive testing, personality measurement). In contrast, by using a supply-side perspective the current research proposes to incorporate vocational interests into the study of adverse impact, to help explain how people end up applying for jobs in the first place. In order to understand how vocational interests influence adverse impact, it is necessary to determine if Blacks and Whites differ in the types of jobs they are interested in, and whether people who are interested in certain kinds of jobs have different levels of cognitive ability. In Study 1, differences between African Americans and Caucasian Americans on vocational interests were estimated via meta-analysis. It was found that Whites have stronger realistic, investigative, and artistic interests, while African Americans have stronger social interests. Various moderators of these relationships were investigated as well. In Study 2, the relationships between cognitive ability and vocational interests were meta-analyzed. Cognitive ability was found to have strong positive correlations with investigative, artistic, and social interests. Finally, in Study 3, I constructed a combined meta-analytic correlation matrix of race, vocational interests, cognitive ability, and conscientiousness, and then used mathematical formulae to assess the role of applicant vocational interests in determining subgroup differences in selection predictors under various application ratios and job types. These findings have implications for how adverse impact might differ systematically across various occupations and jobs, due to race differences in vocational interests.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Jones, Kisha S.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Newman, Daniel A.
• Rounds, James
• Drasgow, Fritz
• Neville, Helen A.
• Fraley, R.C.

• Adverse Impact
• Vocational Interests
• Race
• Cognitive Ability

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2013 Kisha Shannon Jones

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45634

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/45634