Counterproductive hiring discrimination against women
Abstract
Purpose Mentioning car and motorcycle licences on a resume sends a signal of strong mobility, which should increase the chances of getting a job in congested traffic areas. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether this is the case for both women and men. Design/methodology/approach The authors implement an experimental design in order to test for the existence of gender discrimination. The authors use the first-order stochastic dominance (FOSD) criterion and estimate components models. Findings The authors find that holding a motorcycle licence leads to a counterproductive selection of female candidates, since the highest commuting mobility meets the lowest hiring rate. Research limitations/implications The methodology developed in the paper can be used for all correspondence test data. Originality/value The authors examine effects that have not been observed thus far in the literature, namely, the effects of gender crossed with the effects of the class of driving licence that is mentioned on the resume. The authors also advocate the use of the FOSD criterion to discrimination studies.