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Chapter 24 - Twenty Questions about Employment Testing Bias and Unfairness in the United States

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2025

Winfred Arthur, Jr.
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
Dennis Doverspike
Affiliation:
George Mason University
Benjamin D. Schulte
Affiliation:
Texas A & M University
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Summary

In the United States, the legal environment for selection is a central issue that plays a large role in the practice of industrial, work, and organizational psychology. Concern for adverse impact, bias, and fairness goes hand in hand with concern for reliability and validity in the design of any professionally developed selection system. The United States is racially and ethnically diverse (roughly 59 percent White, 19 percent Hispanic/Latino, 13 percent Black/African American, 6 percent Asian American, and 1 percent Native Americans/Alaskans Natives). Federal legislation specifies seven protected classes: race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability. Most of the discussion of bias and fairness in the selection field focuses on race and sex. Legislation, court rulings, government guidance, and professional standards offer a complex framework for the consideration of issues of bias and fairness, an overview of which is provided in this chapter.

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