summarize validity coefficients across jobs (Ghiselli & Barthol, 1953, was among the earliest), research on meta-analysis extended these prior attempts in important ways by identifying a number of statistical artifacts, sample characteristics, and design issues that could affect the magnitude of validity coefficients. And because there were now a sufficient number of primary validity studies involving workers in different occupations, it was possible to make relative comparisons of the validity of different predictors across jobs through meta-analysis (Hunter & Hunter, 1984; Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Within the context of the 1991 Rights Act and emerging meta-analysis research, personality testing was ripe for resurgence (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Research on other predictors that were also during earlier decades (e.g., situational judgment tests) was “lost” similarly reinvigorated (e.g., Motowidlo, Dunnette, & Carter, 1990). An additional stimulus to this research was the U.S. Army Project A, a large scale selection and classification project that included alternatives to cognitive ability and broadened the performance domain. The examination of validity, diversity, adverse impact, and predictors that were non-cognitive (e.g., personality) defined selection research in the 1990s. One noteworthy change that reflected shifting business dynamics was a growing emphasis on recruitment. By the 1970s, the U.S. was transitioning from an industrial economy to a knowledge and information economy. The nature of work increasingly required advanced or highly specialized skills and education, which in turn heightened the need to find the right person to do this work. At the same time, large numbers of the Baby Boom generation began entering the work force, the assumptions of the implicit contract between employer and employee started to erode, and the loyalty to one employer began to diminish, resulting in greater employee mobility. Adding to these societal trends was a shift in employee demographics. The workforce
summarize validity coefficients across jobs (Ghiselli & Barthol, 1953, was among the earliest), research on meta-analysis extended these prior attempts in important ways by identifying a number of statistical artifacts, sample characteristics, and design issues that could affect the magnitude of validity coefficients. And because there were now a sufficient number of primary validity studies involving workers in different occupations, it was possible to make relative comparisons of the validity of different predictors across jobs through meta-analysis (Hunter & Hunter, 1984; Schmidt & Hunter, 1998). Within the context of the 1991 Rights Act and emerging meta-analysis research, personality testing was ripe for resurgence (Barrick & Mount, 1991). Research on other predictors that were also “lost” during earlier decades (e.g., situational judgment tests) was similarly reinvigorated (e.g., Motowidlo, Dunnette, & Carter, 1990). An additional stimulus to this research was the U.S. Army Project A, a large scale selection and classification project that included alternatives to cognitive ability and broadened the performance domain. The examination of validity, diversity, adverse impact, and predictors that were non-cognitive (e.g., personality) defined selection research in the 1990s. One noteworthy change that reflected shifting business dynamics was a growing emphasis on recruitment. By the 1970s, the U.S. was transitioning from an industrial economy to a knowledge and information economy. The nature of work increasingly required advanced or highly specialized skills and education, which in turn heightened the need to find the right person to do this work. At the same time, large numbers of the Baby Boom generation began entering the work force, the assumptions of the implicit contract between employer and employee started to erode, and the loyalty to one employer began to diminish, resulting in greater employee mobility. Adding to these societal trends was a shift in employee demographics. The workforce
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