Mind the Job: The Role of Occupational Characteristics in Explaining Gender Discrimination

Using correspondence testing, we investigate how job characteristics affect gender discrimination in hiring. In particular, we analyse whether discrimination against women is moderated by the occupation’s sex composition, required level of decision-making and expected educational level. To do so, we carried out a correspondence study in 2016, in which we sent two pairs of matched male–female applications to 1371 job postings for a heterogeneous selection of occupations in two large cities in Spain. Differences in response rates and response order by gender were then used as a tool to assess discrimination. The results show that job characteristics matter for gender discrimination and that their effects are complementary. Women were particularly discriminated against in connection with jobs that involved decision-making, in male-dominated and mixed occupations, and in jobs requiring both high and low education levels. This discrimination is likely to stem from the activation of both stereotypes and prejudices.