Screening Out Neurodiversity

Autistic adults suffer from an alarmingly high and increasing un-employment rate. Many companies use pre-employment personality screening tests. These filters likely have disparate impacts on neurodivergent individuals, exacerbating this social problem. This situation gives rise to a bind. On the one hand, the tests disproportionately harm a vulnerable group in society. On the other, employers think that personality test scores are predictors of job performance and have a right to use personality traits in their decisions. It is difficult to say whether these negative disparate impacts are a case of wrongful discrimination. Nevertheless, we will show that pre-employment personality tests prey on several features of autism in an unfair way, and for this reason, we suggest the contours of some regulation that we deem necessary.

Automated summary

Autistic adults face a high and increasing unemployment rate, with many companies using pre-employment personality screening tests that likely disproportionately impact neurodivergent individuals, exacerbating the social problem. This situation presents a dilemma; while the tests harm a vulnerable group in society, employers believe that personality test scores can predict job performance and have the right to consider personality traits in hiring decisions. It is difficult to determine if these negative impacts constitute wrongful discrimination, but we argue that pre-employment personality tests unfairly exploit certain features of autism, necessitating regulatory measures.