Test-Score Banding in Human Resource Selection: Legal, Technical, and Societal Issues

by Herman Aguinis

Virtually everyone is subjected to one form or another of testing. We are tested to get into schools and once we are in schools. We are often tested when we apply for a job and once we get a job. In spite of the pervasiveness and criticality of decisions made based on test scores, testing has been, and continues to be, a source of controversy. Is testing equally fair to all people? Are decisions based on tests fair to all members of society? Test-score banding is a method to interpret test scores that takes into account the fact that tests used in human resource selection are never perfectly accurate. This book analyzes the use of test-score banding from technical, legal, and societal points of view. It includes controversial arguments in favor and against the use of test-score banding, useful guidelines for practice, and innovative suggestions for research.



For the past decade, organizations have relied on banding to select employees by forming groups of bands of applicants based on their scores on tests, interviews, and any other measure. Because test scores are never perfectly accurate, these bands render applicants within the same band indistinguishable. Secondary criteria, such as ethnicity and gender, then are used to break the tie, allowing organizations to increase diversity by increasing the proportion of employees who are members of underrepresented groups.

248 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2004

About the author

Herman Aguinis is the Avram Tucker Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Management at The George Washington University School of Business. He was elected for the presidency track of the Academy of Management, the oldest, largest, and most prestigious organization for management scholars. He is ranked among the top 100 most impactful researchers in Economics and Business in the world. He received the Losey Award by the Society for Human Resource Management Foundation for lifetime achievement in human resource research, and Academy of Management Practice Theme Committee Scholar Practice Impact Award recognizing outstanding impact on policy making and managerial and organizational practices.