IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indres/v62y2023i1p34-59.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A large‐scale field experiment on occupational gender segregation and hiring discrimination

Author

Listed:
  • Mladen Adamovic
  • Andreas Leibbrandt

Abstract

We analyze the relationship between occupational gender composition and gender discrimination in recruitment and investigate whether there is hiring discrimination against men in female‐dominated occupations. We do this with a large‐scale field experiment where we submitted more than 12,000 job applications for 12 occupations in Australia, varying the gender of the applicants. Men received around 50% more callbacks than women in male‐dominated occupations, while they received over 40% fewer callbacks in female‐dominated occupations.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:62:y:2023:i:1:p:34-59
    DOI: 10.1111/irel.12318
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irel.12318
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irel.12318?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. Carlsson, Magnus & Abrar Reshid, Abdulaziz & Rooth, Dan-Olof, 2018. "Neighborhood Signaling Effects, Commuting Time, and Employment: Evidence from a Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 11284, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Doris Weichselbaumer, 2015. "Testing for Discrimination against Lesbians of Different Marital Status: A Field Experiment," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 131-161, January.
    3. Becker, Sascha O. & Fernandes, Ana & Weichselbaumer, Doris, 2019. "Discrimination in hiring based on potential and realized fertility: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 139-152.
    4. David Neumark & Roy J. Bank & Kyle D. Van Nort, 1996. "Sex Discrimination in Restaurant Hiring: An Audit Study," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(3), pages 915-941.
    5. Riach Peter A & Rich Judith, 2006. "An Experimental Investigation of Sexual Discrimination in Hiring in the English Labor Market," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-22, January.
    6. Mohsen Javdani & Andrew McGee, 2019. "Moving Up or Falling Behind? Gender, Promotions, and Wages in Canada," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 189-228, April.
    7. Booth, Alison & Leigh, Andrew, 2010. "Do employers discriminate by gender? A field experiment in female-dominated occupations," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 236-238, May.
    8. Marianne Bertrand & Sandra E Black & Sissel Jensen & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2019. "Breaking the Glass Ceiling? The Effect of Board Quotas on Female Labour Market Outcomes in Norway," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(1), pages 191-239.
    9. Stijn Baert & Bart Cockx & Niels Gheyle & Cora Vandamme, 2015. "Is There Less Discrimination in Occupations Where Recruitment Is Difficult?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 68(3), pages 467-500, May.
    10. Stijn Baert & Ann-Sophie De Pauw & Nick Deschacht, 2016. "Do Employer Preferences Contribute to Sticky Floors?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 69(3), pages 714-736, May.
    11. Jacquemet, Nicolas & Yannelis, Constantine, 2012. "Indiscriminate discrimination: A correspondence test for ethnic homophily in the Chicago labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 824-832.
    12. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    13. Emmanuel Duguet & Pascale Petit, 2005. "Hiring discrimination in the French financial sector: an econometric analysis on field experiment data," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 78, pages 79-102.
    14. Ali M. Ahmed & Lina Andersson & Mats Hammarstedt, 2013. "Are Gay Men and Lesbians Discriminated against in the Hiring Process?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 79(3), pages 565-585, January.
    15. Simon Janssen & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2016. "Occupational Stereotypes and Gender-Specific Job Satisfaction," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 71-91, January.
    16. Anja Lambrecht & Catherine Tucker, 2019. "Algorithmic Bias? An Empirical Study of Apparent Gender-Based Discrimination in the Display of STEM Career Ads," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(7), pages 2966-2981, July.
    17. Magnus Carlsson & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2016. "Employer Attitudes, the Marginal Employer, and the Ethnic Wage Gap," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 69(1), pages 227-252, January.
    18. Petit, Pascale, 2007. "The effects of age and family constraints on gender hiring discrimination: A field experiment in the French financial sector," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 371-391, June.
    19. David W. Johnston & Wang-Sheng Lee, 2012. "Climbing the Job Ladder: New Evidence of Gender Inequity," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 129-151, January.
    20. Butler, Daniel M. & Homola, Jonathan, 2017. "An Empirical Justification for the Use of Racially Distinctive Names to Signal Race in Experiments," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 122-130, January.
    21. Carlsson, Magnus & Eriksson, Stefan, 2019. "Age discrimination in hiring decisions: Evidence from a field experiment in the labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 173-183.
    22. Magnus Carlsson & Abdulaziz Abrar Reshid & Dan-Olof Rooth, 2018. "Neighborhood signaling effects, commuting time, and employment," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(4), pages 534-549, July.
    23. repec:adr:anecst:y:2005:i:78:p:04 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Thomas Couppié & Arnaud Dupray & Stéphanie Moullet, 2014. "Education-based occupational segregation and the gender wage gap: evidence from France," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(3), pages 368-391, May.
    25. Thomas Couppié & Arnaud Dupray & Stéphanie Moullet, 2014. "Education-based occupational segregation and the gender wage gap: evidence from France," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 35(3), pages 368-391, May.
    26. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable Than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 991-1013, September.
    27. Andreas Born & Eva Ranehill & Anna Sandberg, 2022. "Gender and Willingness to Lead: Does the Gender Composition of Teams Matter?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(2), pages 259-275, May.
    28. Olga Alonso-Villar & Coral Del Rio & Carlos Gradin, 2012. "The Extent of Occupational Segregation in the United States: Differences by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 179-212, April.
    29. Devah Pager, 2007. "The Use of Field Experiments for Studies of Employment Discrimination: Contributions, Critiques, and Directions for the Future," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 609(1), pages 104-133, January.
    30. Ali M. Ahmed & Lina Andersson & Mats Hammarstedt, 2013. "Are Gay Men and Lesbians Discriminated against in the Hiring Process?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 79(3), pages 565-585, January.
    31. Giovanni Russo & Wolter Hassink, 2012. "Multiple Glass Ceilings," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 892-915, October.
    32. Francine Blau & Patricia Simpson & Deborah Anderson, 1998. "Continuing Progress? Trends in Occupational Segregation in the United States over the 1970s and 1980s," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 29-71.
    33. Ann-Sophie De Pauw, 2016. "Do employer preferences contribute to sticky floors ?," Post-Print hal-01772258, HAL.
    34. Stijn Baert & Dieter Verhaest, 2019. "Unemployment or Overeducation: Which is a Worse Signal to Employers?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 1-21, March.
    35. Alessandro Acquisti & Christina Fong, 2020. "An Experiment in Hiring Discrimination via Online Social Networks," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(3), pages 1005-1024, March.
    36. Magnus Carlsson, 2011. "Does Hiring Discrimination Cause Gender Segregation in the Swedish Labor Market?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 71-102.
    37. repec:feb:natura:0058 is not listed on IDEAS
    38. Kübler, Dorothea & Schmid, Julia & Stüber, Robert, 2018. "Gender discrimination in hiring across occupations: a nationally-representative vignette study," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 215-229.
    39. Dieter Verhaest & Elene Bogaert & Jeroen Dereymaeker & Laura Mestdagh & Stijn Baert, 2018. "Do Employers Prefer Overqualified Graduates? A Field Experiment," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 361-388, July.
    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. Gaddis, S. Michael, 2018. "An Introduction to Audit Studies in the Social Sciences," SocArXiv e5hfc, Center for Open Science.
    2. Van Borm, Hannah & Baert, Stijn, 2022. "Diving in the minds of recruiters: What triggers gender stereotypes in hiring?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1083, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. David Neumark, 2018. "Experimental Research on Labor Market Discrimination," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(3), pages 799-866, September.
    4. Baert, Stijn, 2017. "Hiring Discrimination: An Overview of (Almost) All Correspondence Experiments Since 2005," GLO Discussion Paper Series 61, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    5. Stijn Baert & Ann-Sophie De Pauw & Nick Deschacht, 2016. "Do Employer Preferences Contribute to Sticky Floors?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 69(3), pages 714-736, May.
    6. Margaret Maurer-Fazio & Sili Wang, 2018. "Does marital status affect how firms interpret job applicants’ un/employment histories?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(4), pages 567-580, July.
    7. Valfort, Marie-Anne, 2020. "Anti-Muslim discrimination in France: Evidence from a field experiment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    8. Carlsson, Magnus & Eriksson, Stefan, 2019. "Age discrimination in hiring decisions: Evidence from a field experiment in the labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 173-183.
    9. Baert, Stijn & Norga, Jennifer & Thuy, Yannick & Van Hecke, Marieke, 2016. "Getting grey hairs in the labour market. An alternative experiment on age discrimination," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 86-101.
    10. Kübler, Dorothea & Schmid, Julia & Stüber, Robert, 2018. "Gender discrimination in hiring across occupations: a nationally-representative vignette study," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 55, pages 215-229.
    11. Birkelund, Gunn Elisabeth & Lancee, Bram & Larsen, Edvard Nergård & Polavieja, Javier G. & Radl, Jonas & Yemane, Ruta, 2022. "Gender Discrimination in Hiring: Evidence from a Cross-National Harmonized Field Experiment," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 38(3), pages 337-354.
    12. Mari, Gabriele & Luijkx, Ruud, 2020. "Gender, Parenthood, and Hiring Intentions in Sex-Typical Jobs: A Survey Experiment," SocArXiv kwdyp, Center for Open Science.
    13. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo, 2016. "Field Experiments on Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 22014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo, 2016. "Field Experiments on Discrimination," NBER Working Papers 22014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Igor Asanov & Maria Mavlikeeva, 2023. "Can group identity explain the gender gap in the recruitment process?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 95-113, January.
    16. Carlsson, Magnus & Eriksson, Stefan, 2017. "The effect of age and gender on labor demand – evidence from a field experiment," Working Paper Series 2017:8, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    17. Becker, Sascha O. & Fernandes, Ana & Weichselbaumer, Doris, 2019. "Discrimination in hiring based on potential and realized fertility: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 139-152.
    18. Finseraas, Henning & Johnsen, Åshild A. & Kotsadam, Andreas & Torsvik, Gaute, 2016. "Exposure to female colleagues breaks the glass ceiling—Evidence from a combined vignette and field experiment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 363-374.
    19. Zhang, Jian & Jin, Songqing & Li, Tao & Wang, Haigang, 2021. "Gender discrimination in China: Experimental evidence from the job market for college graduates," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 819-835.
    20. Rich, Judy, 2014. "What Do Field Experiments of Discrimination in Markets Tell Us? A Meta Analysis of Studies Conducted since 2000," IZA Discussion Papers 8584, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    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:indres:v:62:y:2023:i:1:p:34-59. 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=0019-8676 .

    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.