A Systematic Literature Review on Equity and Technology in HCI and Fairness: Navigating the Complexities and Nuances of Equity Research

TL;DR

This systematic review analyzes 202 papers on equity in HCI and fairness, revealing motivations, definitions, frameworks, and key themes, and proposes an equity framework to guide future research in technology development.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of equity research in HCI and fairness, highlighting motivations, frameworks, themes, and gaps, and introduces an actionable equity framework.

Findings

Growth in publications over the past four years

Diverse definitions and frameworks of equity used

Identification of key themes, tensions, and trade-offs

Abstract

Equity is crucial to the ethical implications in technology development. However, implementing equity in practice comes with complexities and nuances. In response, the research community, especially the human-computer interaction (HCI) and Fairness community, has endeavored to integrate equity into technology design, addressing issues of societal inequities. With such increasing efforts, it is yet unclear why and how researchers discuss equity and its integration into technology, what research has been conducted, and what gaps need to be addressed. We conducted a systematic literature review on equity and technology, collecting and analyzing 202 papers published in HCI and Fairness-focused venues. Amidst the substantial growth of relevant publications within the past four years, we deliver three main contributions: (1) we elaborate a comprehensive understanding researchers' motivations for studying equity and technology, (2) we illustrate the different equity definitions and frameworks utilized to discuss equity, (3) we characterize the key themes addressing interventions as well as tensions and trade-offs when advancing and integrating equity to technology. Based on our findings, we elaborate an equity framework for researchers who seek to address existing gaps and advance equity in technology.