Sense of Self in the Context of Digitalization: Essays on Digital Self-Continuity Conceptualization and Empirical Investigations

Digital technologies have deeply weaved into the infrastructures of society and organizations, fundamentally transforming how individuals interact with each other and, consequently, transforming how individuals verify and express their sense of self. Rooted in this context, this dissertation explores two hitherto largely ignored areas in Information Systems (IS) research with two essays related to the theme of self and identity. The first essay investigates whether and how stigmatized self presented on social media (e.g., Facebook and LinkedIn) impacts a job applicant’s hireability ratings. Nowadays, more and more companies use social media to screen job applicants before contacting them for interviews. This process, termed social media (SM) assessments, is convenient in many aspects, however, it is potentially discriminatory. What is even worse, recruiters might not be fully aware of the discrimination during SM assessments given the lack of structure. We need to understand the mechanisms through which stigmatized self presented on social media impact hireability in order to mitigate potential discrimination. This essay uses a veteran with PTSD, the effect of which on hireability has not been looked at yet, as the proxy for stigmatized self. With a pair of experiments using Facebook and LinkedIn profiles that vary the presence of PTSD disclosure and of individuating information, this essay found that PTSD can lead to stigmatization of the job applicant. The stigmatization led to lower hireability ratings. We also found support for the mediating mechanisms of trust, which has not been extensively investigated in the literature on personnel selection. This essay contributes to the literature by exploring PTSD’s effect on hireability, investigating trust’s role in the process, and unpacking potential discrimination during SM assessments. The second essay theorizes how individuals, using digital technologies, verify their sense of self, and achieve self-continuity both actively and passively. IS researchers tend to focus on the active mechanisms, but these passive mechanisms through which individuals verify their sense of self are largely ignored. This essay contributes to the IS literature by juxtaposing the active and passive mechanisms through which individuals using digital technologies to achieve their sense of self-continuity (termed digital self-continuity)

The Emerging Reality of Social Media: Erosion of Individual Privacy Through Cyber-vetting and Law’s Inability to Catch Up, 12 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 551 (2013)

The rise of social media means that data about a large number of people is available in public and quasi-public digital locations. Employers, keen on taking advantage of this additional data to decrease the risk associated with an offer of employment, are engaging in “cyber-vetting”—non-consenting social media searches conducted by third parties or the employers themselves. To the extent that current law applies to this practice, the regulation it provides is weak and attacks only part of the problem. Left unchecked, cyber-vetting has the potential to fundamentally alter the scope of prospective employees’ rights. This article surveys the legal and practical implications of cyber-vetting and suggests broad reforms focused on intelligently balancing individual rights and legitimate employer interests

Recruitment Methodology based on a "Reskilling" and "Upskilling" Strategy

Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Information Management, specialization in Information Systems and Technologies ManagementIn the era of “Digital Transformation”, new technologies have emerged in recent years, which have provided organizations with the opportunity to efficiently evolve their operations, transform their business models or even create new ones. The possibilities are enormous, but for this digital transformation process to happen, digital skills are essential, particularly highly qualified ICT professionals capable of implementing new technologies. The demand for these professionals is high, especially in Europe, and the scarcity is increasing. To face this shortage and respond to organisations’ needs, a reskilling and upskilling strategy can be a solution to bring more qualified professionals to the ICT labour market with these new technologies. However, hiring professionals to be trained in new technologies is challenging and risky to succeed. Therefore, the recruitment process needs to be more precise to select and validate candidates who can quickly and successfully acquire new technological skills. This research intends to create a method that can help in this process, applying a systematic approach to selecting and validating candidates with the most adequate technical and interpersonal skills for their requalification in new technologies. With the application of this method, a competency model is created for the target job, candidates are evaluated, and gaps are identified. In case of the feasibility of requalifying the candidate, a training plan is developed to acquire new technological skills

Employers’ hiring decisions in Oman: An examination of what employers look for when hiring graduates and why

Whilst the relationship between education and labour market outcomes has been researched across a wide range of fields such as sociology, economics and psychology, relatively little research has been carried out in developing countries. This thesis expands the understanding of the relationship between education and work to a rentier state context, Oman, by examining employers’ hiring decisions. More specifically, this research explores what factors employers rely on when hiring graduates in three occupations - accountants, software developers and mechanical engineers - and why. A mixed-methods design consisting of a factorial survey and semi-structured interviews was adopted to investigate the extent to which employers attach value to various educational and social capital attributes and in what ways employers’ assessment of applicants varies across occupational and organisational contexts. Contrary to much research in this area, which is de-contextualised, the thesis makes context a central part of the analysis by looking at the influence of the occupational and organisational context in the determination of the value of different attributes at the time of recruitment. In addition, this study incorporates public policies in the analysis, to explore their relevancy in employers’ decisions and their interplay with candidates’ education and social capital attributes. This is done with reference to Omanisation policies (that aim to ensure high quality job opportunities for Omanis) in the factorial survey but also with reference to wage setting regulations, which were discussed by interview participants. This thesis found that employers rely on a combination of educational attributes (i.e. relevant field of study, bachelor’s degree, high GPA, leading university), as well as other social and demographic characteristics (referrals from higher education institutions, nationality, gender) alongside levels of work experience including internships to hire job candidates with some differences noted between the three occupations researched. The findings indicated that a combination of theories explains employers’ hiring decisions in the Omani labour market better than any single individual theory, but also that some recruitment preferences cannot be easily accommodated within the main tenets of extant theories. In discussing its findings, this thesis contributes methodologically, theoretically, and empirically to understanding, in a critical way, employers’ hiring decisions and their preferences and perceptions of the role of educational attributes, social capital and public policy (Omanisation, but also wage regulations) in a rentier state context and opens windows for further research in similar contexts

AI based e-recruitment system

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University LondonModern web-based e-recruitment methods have revolutionised advertising, source tracking, and online inquiry forms with the associated start-up and maintenance costs. Attracting and hiring qualified candidates, navigating online recruiting tools, increasing unsuitable applications, and discrimination and diversity issues are just a few of the drawbacks of e recruitment. A platform with AI algorithms is developed to overcome limitations, especially for Saudi private and public sector recruiters who lack AI in their application processes. The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAT) measured user acceptance of e-recruitment systems, with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.96 indicating high reliability. The platform and its features were evaluated using five-point Likert scales, with mean responses exceeding 3.4, indicating high acceptability. This PhD developed the Artificial Intelligent Recruitment (AIRec) platform, ranking candidates with 99 per cent accuracy. Improve corporate image and profile, reduce recruitment and overhead costs, use better tools to select candidates based on sound criteria, provide tracking for both candidates and employers. AIRec also aims to change HR and line management culture and behaviour. The platform and its contributions were tested in real-world scenarios in the top Saudi government and university recruiting bodies. Based on Cronbach's alpha testing and validation, the result was 0.97 out of 1. The results show the system's high reliability

A Necessary Shift? A Qualitative Exploration of Black Women’s Experiences with Altering Self-Presentation for Job Attainment

The purpose of this study was to explore how Black women describe their experiences with shifting for job attainment, including their perception of identity, and how they interpret and negotiate any outcomes of shifting. The study was guided by the following research questions: (1) How do Black women describe their experiences with shifting for job attainment? (2) How do Black women interpret and negotiate any outcomes of shifting? (3) How do Black women perceive their identity in terms of their experiences with shifting? Ten participants shared their personal experiences shifting throughout their job attainment process. Each participant self-identified as Black and female, held a professional level position, and interviewed for employment within the last 5 years. The following themes emerged from data analysis: (a) perceptions of Black women and their intersectional identities, (b) methods of shifting, (c) motivations for shifting, (d) signals of safety and danger, (e) the burden of shifting, and (f) the shift from shifting. These interview findings were supported through document analysis of participant résumés and job postings. Ten participants shared their personal experiences shifting throughout their job attainment process. Each participant self-identified as Black and female, held a professional level position, and interviewed for employment within the last 5 years. The following themes emerged from data analysis: (a) perceptions of Black women and their intersectional identities, (b) methods of shifting, (c) motivations for shifting, (d) signals of safety and danger, (e) the burden of shifting, and (f) the shift from shifting. These interview findings were supported through document analysis of participant résumés and job postings

Are managers ready for HRM 4.0?: the potential role of blockchain technology in HRM

As most professions, the field of Human Resources, henceforth HR, has changed considerably over time. To the best of my knowledge, no previous research has been made about the effects of blockchain technology into the HR field, from the perspective of ethics. This research will therefore aim to contribute to the existing literature about blockchain technology and HR by exploring whether managers are ready for new technological implementations, along with a broad matter of ethics behind the implementation. A qualitative and exploratory research design using semi-structured interviews was adopted in order to gain more knowledge with respect to this topic. The paper uses a model from scratch that Business Ethics is the umbrella, due to the reason that ethics have the main role when talking about HR. The research provides insights into the synthesis of blockchain technology and HR managers and how their tasks may threaten the privacy, confidentiality or security of the organisation or the people working in it. The main findings of this paper were that managers are thrilled that an existing technology could help them automate some steps that need more time. However, at the same time, they are not willing to compromise the security, confidentiality and privacy. Therefore, the implementation of blockchain is going to be a rather slow process. It is hoped that the findings of this research will further contribute to the field of HR