article via thegrio.com; forbes.com
Stephanie Lampkin, a black female engineer, has seen her share of workplace discrimination. Despite the fact that she was a full-stack web developer by the age of 15 and then went on to get her education at Stanford and then MIT, she often had a hard time getting her foot in the door to get into the tech industry, which has long been dominated by white men.
But Lampkin has developed an app that would help to curb discrimination in hiring by eliminating even unconscious bias from the hiring process.
The app, called Blendoor, uploads resumes without a name or a picture so that candidates are judged solely on their merits and their technical abilities.
“My company resonates more with white men when I position it as, ‘hey, I want to help you find the best talent. Your unconscious mind isn’t racist, sexist — it’s totally natural, and we’re trying to help you circumvent it,’” she told Forbes.
Already, Lampkin has 19 large tech firms signed up to use the app, which will also collect job data to see how those who are seeking jobs are matching up with positions they would be qualified for.
To read more, go to: http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2016/03/03/black-woman-engineer-launches-blind-job-match-app-to-take-bias-out-of-tech-hiring/#e3c5a05601c4
Posts tagged as “apps created by African Americans”
The Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade released a fitness app called “Dwyane Wade Driven” while his team was simultaneously celebrating its third NBA championship with a parade and rally. The app offers customized training programs and videos for basketball players and other athletes.
“It shows people ways to work out, a lot of different ways to work out, whether it’s basketball drills or not,” Wade told The Associated Press. “A lot of people work out at home. A lot of people don’t have access to a gym. A lot of people don’t have trainers. So it’s kind of like I’m the personal trainer for basketball and fitness and I’ll show them a lot of things I do with my body and for my body.”
The app was available for download starting Monday. It includes basketball drills and a fitness routine, along with ways for users to track their progress. Driven Apps, the publisher, plans to release additional bundles for users to download once they have mastered or completed the initial Wade program.
“It shows people ways to work out, a lot of different ways to work out, whether it’s basketball drills or not,” Wade told The Associated Press. “A lot of people work out at home. A lot of people don’t have access to a gym. A lot of people don’t have trainers. So it’s kind of like I’m the personal trainer for basketball and fitness and I’ll show them a lot of things I do with my body and for my body.”
The app was available for download starting Monday. It includes basketball drills and a fitness routine, along with ways for users to track their progress. Driven Apps, the publisher, plans to release additional bundles for users to download once they have mastered or completed the initial Wade program.