IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v33y2026i1p219-233.html

Gender and Pregnancy Discrimination in the Selection Process. Does It (Still) Exist?

Author

Listed:
  • Mara Bria
  • Alina M. Cociş
  • Sabina R. Trif
  • Petru L. Curşeu
  • Oana C. Fodor
  • Renata M. Heilman

Abstract

Building on the social role theory of sex differences and the role congruity theories, we aim to test whether gender and pregnancy discrimination (still) emerge in individual and group decisions, alongside testing four explanatory mechanisms. A sample of 258 individuals (organized in 81 groups) read vignettes that manipulated the gender and the pregnancy condition of hypothetical applicants for a managerial position. Participants were asked to make several personnel selection decisions, first individually and then in groups. Results indicate that male were preferred in all the personnel decisions (intention to hire, salary offer, and competence ranking), both at the individual and group levels. Our results did not offer support for the hypothesis regarding the main effect of pregnancy, yet we found an interaction effect between gender and pregnancy in such a way that male with a pregnant spouse are seen as the most competent and the most preferred for hiring. In contrast, pregnant female are perceived as the least competent and the least preferred candidates for hiring. Our results did not show clear decision polarization tendencies in groups compared to individual choices. The impact of gender and pregnancy on personnel decisions is explained by expectations of counterproductive work behaviors, extra‐role performance behaviors, and perceived commitment. This study has valuable theoretical contributions by integrating social role theory and role congruity theory with group decision‐making models to explain, using perceived commitment and counterproductive work behaviors, how gender and pregnancy cues shape personnel selection outcomes. It addresses an underexplored intersection, namely, how group dynamics interact with parenthood cues to exacerbate or mitigate discriminatory tendencies in hiring decisions. This study offers valuable insights for building more inclusive organizations and promoting gender diversity in the upper organizational echelons.

Suggested Citation

  • Mara Bria & Alina M. Cociş & Sabina R. Trif & Petru L. Curşeu & Oana C. Fodor & Renata M. Heilman, 2026. "Gender and Pregnancy Discrimination in the Selection Process. Does It (Still) Exist?," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 219-233, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:33:y:2026:i:1:p:219-233
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.70039
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.70039
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.70039?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Delia Mensitieri & Smaranda Boroş & Claudia Toma, 2025. "Bringing Microaggressions From the Shadows to the Spotlight: Unveiling Silencing Mechanisms and Distinct Patterns in Coping," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 1615-1631, July.
    2. Venessa Garcia, 2025. "Role Incongruity of Women in United States Law Enforcement: A National Survey Exploring Global and Specific Resistance in a Gendered Organization," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 1511-1522, July.
    3. Khadija Straaten & Niccolò Pisani & Ans Kolk, 2024. "Parenthood wage gaps in multinational enterprises," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(6), pages 805-815, August.
    4. Paola Belingheri & Filippo Chiarello & Andrea Fronzetti Colladon & Paola Rovelli, 2021. "Twenty years of gender equality research: A scoping review based on a new semantic indicator," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-27, September.
    5. Erin A. Cech & William R. Rothwell, 2020. "LGBT Workplace Inequality in the Federal Workforce: Intersectional Processes, Organizational Contexts, and Turnover Considerations," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(1), pages 25-60, January.
    6. Biewen Martin & Seifert Stefanie, 2018. "Potential Parenthood and Career Progression of Men and Women – A Simultaneous Hazards Approach," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 1-22, April.
    7. David J. Hutson, 2025. "The silent shift: Pregnant women doing aesthetic and emotional labor at work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 281-301, January.
    8. Mladen Adamovic & Andreas Leibbrandt, 2023. "A large‐scale field experiment on occupational gender segregation and hiring discrimination," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 34-59, January.
    9. Tamar Kugler & Edgar E. Kausel & Martin G. Kocher, 2012. "Are Groups more Rational than Individuals? A Review of Interactive Decision Making in Groups," CESifo Working Paper Series 3701, CESifo.
    10. Bronwyn P. Wood, 2024. "Gender injustice against women in the Muslim world and the conflation of hegemonic terms (feminism) as deflection," International Journal of Islamic Marketing and Branding, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(5), pages 1-11.
    11. Kai Barron & Ruth Ditlmann & Stefan Gehrig & Sebastian Schweighofer-Kodritsch, 2025. "Explicit and Implicit Belief-Based Gender Discrimination: A Hiring Experiment," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(2), pages 1600-1622, February.
    12. Vasilena Stefanova & Ioana Latu, 2022. "Navigating the leaky pipeline: Do stereotypes about parents predict career outcomes in academia?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(10), pages 1-22, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Grundmann, Susanna & Rockenbach, Bettina & Werner, Katharina, 2025. "First Names and Ascribed Characteristics," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    2. Vicente Martínez-Tur & Vicente Peñarroja & Miguel A Serrano & Vanesa Hidalgo & Carolina Moliner & Alicia Salvador & Adrián Alacreu-Crespo & Esther Gracia & Agustín Molina, 2014. "Intergroup Conflict and Rational Decision Making," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Khanh Duong, 2024. "Is meritocracy just? New evidence from Boolean analysis and Machine learning," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 1795-1821, October.
    4. Faralla, Valeria & Borà, Guido & Innocenti, Alessandro & Novarese, Marco, 2020. "Promises in group decision making," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 1-11.
    5. Ramm, Joachim & Tjøtta, Sigve & Torsvik, Gaute, 2013. "Incentives and creativity in groups," Working Papers in Economics 06/13, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    6. Julia Schmieder & Doris Weichselbaumer & Clara Welteke & Katharina Wrohlich, 2024. "Parental Leave and Discrimination in the Labor Market," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0054, Berlin School of Economics.
    7. Hal R. Arkes & John H. Kagel & Dimitry Mezhvinsky, 2017. "Effects of a Management–Labor Context and Team Play on Ultimatum Game Outcomes," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(4), pages 993-1011, April.
    8. Abel, Martin & Robbett, Andrea & Stone, Daniel F., 2024. "Partisan Discrimination in Hiring," IZA Discussion Papers 17540, IZA Network @ LISER.
    9. Jauernig, Johanna & Uhl, Matthias & Valentinov, Vladislav, 2021. "The ethics of corporate hypocrisy: An experimental approach," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 131.
    10. Francisco Díez-Martín & Giorgia Miotto & Cristina Del-Castillo-Feito, 2024. "The intellectual structure of gender equality research in the business economics literature," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 18(6), pages 1649-1680, June.
    11. Xiaohong Yu & Zhaoyang Sun, 2022. "The company they keep: When and why Chinese judges engage in collegiality," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(4), pages 936-1002, December.
    12. Chaudhuri, Ananish & Paichayontvijit, Tirnud & Shen, Lifeng, 2013. "Gender differences in trust and trustworthiness: Individuals, single sex and mixed sex groups," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 181-194.
    13. repec:osf:socarx:kwdyp_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Gavin Nicholson & Abdallah Bader Mahmoud Al-Zoubi, 2024. "The effect of decision recommendations and approval expectations on directors’ decision control: an experimental investigation of anchoring effects," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 437-465, September.
    15. Sebastian Schweighofer-Kodritsch, 2024. "Bounded Rationality, Beliefs, and Behavior," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0037, Berlin School of Economics.
    16. Muehlheusser, Gerd & Roider, Andreas & Wallmeier, Niklas, 2015. "Gender differences in honesty: Groups versus individuals," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 25-29.
    17. Jingjing Zhang, 2012. "Communication in asymmetric group competition over public goods," ECON - Working Papers 069, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    18. Mari, Gabriele & Luijkx, Ruud, 2020. "Gender, Parenthood, and Hiring Intentions in Sex-Typical Jobs: A Survey Experiment," SocArXiv kwdyp, Center for Open Science.
    19. Güth, Werner & Kocher, Martin G., 2014. "More than thirty years of ultimatum bargaining experiments: Motives, variations, and a survey of the recent literature," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 396-409.
    20. Lukas Meub & Till Proeger, 2018. "Are groups ‘less behavioral’? The case of anchoring," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 85(2), pages 117-150, August.
    21. Bizer, Kilian & Meub, Lukas & Proeger, Till & Spiwoks, Markus, 2014. "Strategic coordination in forecasting: An experimental study," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 195, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:33:y:2026:i:1:p:219-233. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.