In 2020, the Yale Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Department (MB&B) tested anonymized applications for tenure-track Assistant Professor positions. These applications omit names of people, places, funding agencies, and journals.
This change was brought about due to findings that names can act as cues for unintended biases like ingroup favoritism. MB&B cited research by Olof Åslund and Oskar Nordstrӧm Skans that demonstrates anonymous applications increase the chance of underrepresented and minoritized groups advancing to the interview stage.
The goal of this approach is to circumvent unintended biases based in name recognition. MB&B hopes that implementing anonymous applications will help to create impressions of candidates based on their contributions to science, teaching, and equity and diversity statements, rather than where candidates earned their degrees.