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Assessing Potential: Presenting an Instrument that is Fair and Unbiased for a Diverse Work SettingProf. Hannes De Beer, Cecilia Meyer, Dr T R Taylor. Assessment instruments and psychometric measures in South Africa are governed by legislation in order to ensure the fairness of these practices. However, with regards to fairness - bias is not always investigated. Some instruments do not consider the diversity of the nation and this might lead to unfair discrimination in terms of various ethnic and disadvantaged groups. Fairness here refers to the bias of the instrument, the relevance, and the purpose of the instrument.
The APIL Battery assesses a person’s cognitive potential as opposed to current skill and knowledge. The importance thereof is that in South Africa and various other countries, opportunities and education has not been equally distributed in the past and some people might have less skill and knowledge due to the disparities. The emphasis is placed on a person’s potential to acquire and learn the skill and knowledge needed in organisations today. Therefore, the APIL Battery is referred to as a Learning Potential Instrument. In the paper the APIL battery is discussed: the content, the constructs measured, reliability, validity and the empirical results on testing of 474 individuals. The Learning Potential Instruments are widely used in situations where disparities in education and growth opportunities have occurred. These instruments hold enormous utility value for the empowerment of all employees. Presenters Prof. Hannes De Beer
(South Africa)
Associate Professor Department of Human Resource Management University of Pretoria Hannes is a pioneer of tertiary teaching of Workforce Diversity in South Africa. His department was the first to introduce formal programmes on Workforce Diversity from graduate to PhD levels. He believes that the future success of the SA economy will depend on how effectively the diverse workforce is managed.
Cecilia Meyer
(South Africa)
Dr T R Taylor
(South Africa)
Keywords
(30 min. Conference Paper,
English)
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