Skip to content

Research project

Gendered networks and their role in hiring discrimination for jobs in gender-segregated occupations: experimental evidence

This project focuses on the hiring decisions of employers and the role of informal recruitment (referrals) on gender bias in hiring for gender-segregated jobs. With a laboratory and an online field experiment, we test the causal effect of gendered network-based recruitment.

The literature on occupational segregation and gender discrimination in hiring has largely focused on access to jobs, different occupational aspirations by gender, and gendered preferences of employers. This project focuses on the hiring decisions of employers and studies the role of informal recruitment practices (i.e. referrals) on gender bias in hiring for gender-segregated jobs. To test the impact of gender in the referral process, we conduct both a laboratory and an online field experiment. We test the causal effect of gendered network-based recruitment and thus unravel a new channel that may mitigate or accentuate a gender-balanced workplace.

Go back to top of the page