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Literature Review: Inclusive Hiring, Structured Interviews, and DEI in Adversarial Climates

  • Writer: Alston Rousseau
    Alston Rousseau
  • Apr 19
  • 5 min read

Date: April 20, 2025

Format: APA 7th Edition


Moody Library shelf
Moody Library shelf

This literature review synthesizes insights from multiple articles by Alston Rousseau and broader academic literature on structured interviews, critical race theory (CRT), and strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in hiring. It further examines DEI implementation in politically regressive environments, drawing upon interdisciplinary lenses across Organizational Development (OD), Psychology (PSY), and World Studies (WS), and structural power shapes the outcomes of DEI efforts. With widespread backlash against DEI in public and private institutions across the United States, this literature review offers a timely academic framing for practitioners and advocates who must defend and evolve equity practices in hostile environments. Disclaimer - This literature review integrates peer-reviewed scholarship and contemporary reporting to capture the dynamic landscape of DEI in 2025.


Structured interviews are a proven method to enhance fairness in hiring by standardizing the evaluation process. Unlike unstructured interviews, which are more susceptible to unconscious bias, structured interviews rely on predefined questions and rating rubrics aligned with job competencies. Studies by Schmidt & Hunter (1998), Wiesner & Cronshaw (1988), and McCarthy et al. (2017) highlight the predictive validity of structured interviews and their role in reducing employee turnover and improving candidate experience.


Critical Race Theory (CRT) interrogates how systemic inequities are embedded in hiring systems and what constitutes 'merit.' It emphasizes how hiring criteria often reflect dominant white cultural norms, disadvantaging marginalized candidates. Insights from Delgado & Stefancic (2017), Harris (1993), and Crenshaw (1989) illustrate how concepts like 'whiteness as property' and intersectionality reveal the limits of race-neutral hiring. CRT provides a framework for practices like 'Two in the Pool' to disrupt exclusionary norms.


Subtle but strategic interventions are critical in politically hostile environments where DEI is under attack. Rousseau's writings argue that structured interviews and inclusive practices can serve as quiet resistance to policies that dismantle equity programs. Organizational Development (OD), Psychology (PSY), and World Studies (WS) perspectives are essential in integrating covert DEI strategies, such as embedded values-based hiring, reframed training, and cultural signaling, without explicit DEI labels.


Anthem and Campspot's case studies demonstrate the successful implementation of 'Two in the Pool' and inclusive job descriptions. Hiring managers increased diversity in tech teams by pairing structured interviews with tools like Joblint and Gender Decoder. These tools helped create inclusive language and reduced gender-coded phrasing, resulting in a measurable rise in female applicants without deterring men.

Bibliography by Discipline


📘 Organizational Development

  • Knight, R. (2017, June 12). 7 practical ways to reduce bias in your hiring process. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/06/7-practical-ways-to-reduce-bias-in-your-hiring-process

  • Mohr, T. S. (2014). Why women don't apply for jobs unless they're 100% qualified? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2014/08/why-women-dont-apply-for-jobs-unless-theyre-100-qualified

  • Northouse, P. G. (2019). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). SAGE Publications.

  • Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2011). Crucial conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.

  • Gallos, J. V. (Ed.). (2006). Organization development: A Jossey-Bass reader. Jossey-Bass.

  • Grant, B. (2023). Change management that sticks: A practical, people-centered approach for high buy-in and meaningful results. Barb Grant Publishing.

  • Whitney, D., & Trosten-Bloom, A. (2010). The power of appreciative inquiry: A practical guide to positive change (2nd ed.). Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

  • Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths-based leadership. Gallup Press.

🧠 Psychology

  • Gaucher, D., Friesen, J., & Kay, A. C. (2011). Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(1), 109–128.

  • Formanowicz, M., & Sczesny, S. (2017). Sounds like a fit! Wording in recruitment advertisements and anticipated belongingness. Human Resource Management, 56(1), 129–147. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.22043

  • McCarthy, J. M., Van Iddekinge, C. H., Campion, M. C., & Campion, M. A. (2017). Are highly structured job interviews resistant to demographic similarity effects? Personnel Psychology, 70(2), 241–282. https://doi.org/10.1111/peps.12144

  • Riaz, Z., Stankeviciute, Ž., & Pinzaru, F. (2024). New work demands and managing employee well-being in the post-pandemic world: Evidence from structured hiring. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, Article 1392687. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1392687/full

  • Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.124.2.262

  • Wiesner, W. H., & Cronshaw, S. F. (1988). A meta-analytic investigation of the impact of interview format and degree of structure on the validity of the employment interview. Journal of Occupational Psychology, 61(4), 275–290. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8325.1988.tb00467.x

  • Hall, G. C. N. (2022). Multicultural psychology (4th ed.). Routledge.

  • Sue, D. W., Bingham, R. P., Porché-Burke, L., & Vasquez, M. J. T. (1999). The diversification of psychology: A multicultural revolution. American Psychologist, 54(12), 1061–1069.

  • Moane, G. (2003). Bridging the personal and the political: Practices for a liberation psychology. American Journal of Community Psychology, 31(1–2), 91–101.

  • Boykin, K. [Book](2024). Why does everything have to be about race? Harper.

🌍 World Studies and Critical Theory


📚 Recommended Reading

(Consulted but Not Cited)

  • Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2017). Critical race theory: An introduction (3rd ed.). NYU Press.

  • Godwin-Jones, R. (2020). Language and culture in context. https://langculture.com/ 

  • Greene, B., & Sanchez-Hucles, J. (1997). Diversity: Advancing an inclusive feminist psychology. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21(1), 105–118.  

  • Kolb, D. A. (2014). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (2nd ed.). Pearson Education.  

  • Levitsky, S., & Ziblatt, D. (2018). How democracies die. Crown Publishing.  

  • Morukian, M. (2022). Diversity, equity, and inclusion for trainers: Fostering DEI in the workplace. Association for Talent Development.  

  • Schaller, T., & Waldman, P. (2024). White rural rage: The threat to American democracy. Harper. ISBN: 978-0593729144  

  • Wilkerson, I. (2020). Caste: The origins of our discontents. Random House. [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/p/books/caste-oprah-s-book-club-the-origins-of-our-discontents-isabel-wilkerson/15481820?ean=9780593230275&next=t)  

🛠️ Tools & Web Resources


 
 
 

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© 2025 by Guerrilla DEI. -  Disclaimer: The author does not speak for any other author, organization, employer, or corporation, past or present and recognizes the privilege this affords him. He received no remuneration for this work. He also believes that white Americans, including himself, have a moral obligation to denounce the modern American government's deliberate cruelty, racism, and fascism—whether in Congress or the White House—if American democracy is to endure.

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