Finance
AI Has a Solution to Finance’s Bias Toward Mini-Me Lacrosse Bros
A startup says it can use algorithms to screen a more diverse pool of job seekers.
This article is for subscribers only.
It’s been one of the safest bets on Wall Street: Study business at Wharton, Harvard, or the University of Chicago and apply for a job in investment banking. Play squash or lacrosse? That helps. So can the right fraternity or club.
When recruiting talent, the overwhelmingly white, male, and elite-educated cohort who run America’s top financial firms reflexively seek out younger versions of themselves. Psychologists call this tendency the “like-me” bias. Aspirants with a preppy pedigree have the inside track on coveted jobs in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, corporate finance, and restructuring. Everyone else, including women and minorities, starts at a disadvantage.