Research at Bond

Current Research Projects

Getting the Best Person for the Job

An internationally funded research project examining the emphasis placed on academic merit and equity issues in the appointment of university staff is likely to rattle the cages of the ‘Politically Correct Police’ when it is released later this year.

Psychology Chair, Professor Greg Boyle, headed the Australian team of an international group of researchers examining how universities in North America and Australia have changed their hiring policies over the past 30 years in line with political correctness.

“Our group of researchers looked at more than 800 advertisements for academic appointments published since the early 1970s,” said Professor Boyle.

“These ads were all rated in terms of the emphasis placed on academic merit, as opposed to equity issues, such as preferences being given to minority and other groups identified as having special needs.”

For the purposes of comparison, the study focused on three specific time periods – 1970-73, 1984-87 and 2000-03 – looking at the employment criteria for academic staff in the hard sciences, social sciences and humanities.

“There’s no doubt that North America has led the way in favouring the selection of politically correct applicants through legislated policies such as ‘affirmative action’,” said Professor Boyle.

“But our research indicates that Australian universities have followed this lead.

“With the noted exception of Australia’s top-level research universities, our general findings are that there seems to be a decline in the academic standards required for appointment. In other words, universities are selecting teaching staff based on whether they meet merit criteria such as gender and ethnic diversity, rather than those who are most academically qualified to do the job.”

Whilst the research project funded by the Donner Canadian Foundation was limited to examining university academic appointments, Professor Boyle believes the results will be equally relevant to a wide range of PC-driven hiring practices.

“Government legislation now defines several guidelines relating to job advertising and interview processes,” he said.

“In a wide range of industries, private companies, multi-national corporations, even political parties are encouraged to present themselves as ‘equal opportunity employers’.

“But, the question remains: Are you getting the best person for the job?”

Key Project Team Members

  • Professor Greg Boyle - Bond University

Funding Sources

Contact:

Professor Greg Boyle

School of Business
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
BOND UNIVERSITY QLD 4229
AUSTRALIA

Phone: +61 7 5595 2525
Email: gboyle@bond.edu.au