Noted

Alex Eben Meyer

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Ratings—for everything from restaurants to doctors to car rentals—are ubiquitous across the internet. In a recent study on home service providers, Yale and other university researchers found that the common five-star rating system produces differences between non-white and white workers, reducing the average income of non-white workers.

However, substituting a simple thumbs-up-or-down choice eliminated this racial bias.

Using an online platform that connects customers to small businesses in the home services industry, the team looked at customer ratings both before and after the platform changed its evaluation system from a five-star scale to the thumbs-up or thumbs-down option.

When customers used a five-star scale, racial minorities averaged 4.72 stars while white workers averaged 4.79 stars. Because wages are tied to ratings in this platform, the difference meant that non-white workers on average earned 91 cents for every dollar white workers earned.

But shifting to a two-point scale eliminated the disparity in ratings and earnings. The researchers note that a five-point scale allows for subconscious bias: somebody might give a white worker five stars and a non-white worker of equal quality four stars, while two-point scales ask for simple approval or disapproval.

Yale chemists and colleagues have developed a breakthrough improvement in a process that can remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial emissions and transform it into methanol, a widely used liquid fuel for internal combustion and other engines. CO2, a major greenhouse gas, is one of the largest contributors to climate change, while methanol is safer for the environment than conventional gasoline. The researchers note that their work brings the potential for CO2 reduction to a new level and offers a potentially scalable solution to reduce carbon footprints and accelerate the transition to cleaner energy.