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Are Gay Men and Lesbians Discriminated against in the Hiring Process?

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  • Ali M. Ahmed
  • Lina Andersson
  • Mats Hammarstedt

Abstract

This article presents the first field experiment on sexual orientation discrimination in the hiring process in the Swedish labor market. Job applications were sent to about 4000 employers in 10 different occupations in Sweden. Gender and sexual orientation were randomly assigned to applications. The results show that sexual orientation discrimination exists in the Swedish labor market. The discrimination against the gay male applicant and the lesbian applicant varied across different occupations and appears to be concentrated in the private sector. The results also show that the gay male applicant was discriminated against in typical male‐dominated occupations, whereas the lesbian applicant was discriminated against in typical female‐dominated occupations. Theoretical implications are discussed.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:79:y:2013:i:3:p:565-585
    DOI: 10.4284/0038-4038-2011.317
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    Cited by:

    1. Nick Drydakis, 2022. "Sexual orientation discrimination in the labor market against gay men," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 1027-1058, September.
    2. 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.
    3. Stijn Baert, 2014. "Career lesbians. Getting hired for not having kids?," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 543-561, November.
    4. Haoran He & Sherry Xin Li & Yuling Han, 2023. "Labor Market Discrimination against Family Responsibilities: A Correspondence Study with Policy Change in China," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 41(2), pages 361-387.
    5. Angelo Moretti, 2023. "Regional Public Opinions on LGBTI People Equal Opportunities in Employment: Evidence from the Eurobarometer Programme using Small Area Estimation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 413-438, April.
    6. Schaerer, Michael & du Plessis, Christilene & Nguyen, My Hoang Bao & van Aert, Robbie C.M. & Tiokhin, Leo & Lakens, Daniël & Giulia Clemente, Elena & Pfeiffer, Thomas & Dreber, Anna & Johannesson, Mag, 2023. "On the trajectory of discrimination: A meta-analysis and forecasting survey capturing 44 years of field experiments on gender and hiring decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    7. John Levendis & Aaron Lowen, 2023. "What Same-Sex Adoption Laws Can Tell Us About the Gender Wage Gap in the United States," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 473-489, June.
    8. Gutierrez, Emilio & Rubli, Adrian, 2024. "LGBT+ persons and homophobia prevalence across job sectors: Survey evidence from Mexico," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    9. Tampellini, João, 2024. "Latin American pride: Labor market outcomes of sexual minorities in Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    10. Hernández, Hugo & Quiroz, Gabriel & Zambrano, Omar & Zanoni, Wladimir, 2023. "Measuring Labor Market Discrimination against LGTBQ+ in the Case of Ecuador: A Field Experiment," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12977, Inter-American Development Bank.
    11. Enzo Brox & Riccardo Di Francesco, 2024. "The Cost of Coming Out," Papers 2403.03649, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.
    12. Lennon, Conor, 2022. "Employer-sponsored health insurance and labor market outcomes for men in same-sex couples: Evidence from the advent of pre-exposure prophylaxis," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    13. Zanoni, Wladimir & Hernández, Hugo & Zambrano, Omar & Quiroz, Gabriel, 2024. "Discrimination against lesbian and gay job seekers: An artefactual field experiment in urban Ecuador," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    14. Samet Çelik & Malik Volkan Türker, 2022. "Can Eye Movements Be a Predictor of Implicit Attitudes? Discrimination Against Disadvantaged Individuals During the Recruitment Process," Istanbul Business Research, Istanbul University Business School, vol. 51(2), pages 459-489, November.
    15. Mourelatos, Evangelos, 2023. "Does Mood affect Sexual and Gender Discrimination in Hiring Choices? Evidence from Online Experiments," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    16. Ian Burn & Michael E. Martell, 2022. "Gender typicality and sexual minority labour market differentials," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(4), pages 784-814, December.

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