A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
The When and Whereabouts of Gender Hiring Discrimination
Authors: Bygren, Magnus; Erlandsson, Anni; Gahler, Michael
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Publishing place: THOUSAND OAKS
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Sage open
Journal name in source: SAGE Open
Journal acronym: SAGE OPEN
Article number: 21582440251335435
Volume: 15
Issue: 2
Number of pages: 13
ISSN: 2158-2440
eISSN: 2158-2440
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251335435
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251335435
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/491850520
The aim of this article is to explore the circumstances leading employers to discriminate by gender and parenthood, contributing to the broader aim at increasing our understanding about the mechanisms underlying gender inequality in the labor market. Previous Swedish (and many international) studies show that employers are about equally likely to hire men and women. These results tend to refer, however, to data based on aggregates of branches, occupations and sectors. Statistical power is commonly low when results are broken down by segments. Studies showing no employer discrimination at the aggregate level may thus hide discrimination in certain segments. There are reasons to expect discrimination by gender and parenthood to vary depending on context and we explore this by relating variation in employer behavior to variation in demographic (gender) composition and qualification level in the occupation applied for. In this study, a large-scale experimental correspondence test design is employed, and non-authentic applications-with gender and parenthood randomly assigned to job applications-are sent to job openings in the Swedish labor market, including information on a total of 6,755 job applications in 15 occupations. The results show no indication of discrimination based on gender or parenthood in this early step of the recruitment process, and this is regardless of whether the occupation is dominated by either gender or is gender balanced.
Downloadable publication This is an electronic reprint of the original article. |  |
Funding information in the publication:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte grant 2012-0587; Forte grant 2018-00594), and by the Academy of Finland Flagship Programme (decision number 320162).
