scholarly journals Employment Lapses and Subsequent Hiring Disadvantages: An Experimental Approach Examining Types of Discrimination and Mechanisms

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312110198
Author(s):  
Katherine Weisshaar
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Cognitive Biases ◽  
Job Applicants ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Hiring Decisions ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
Employment Gaps ◽  
Types Of Information

Employment interruption is a common experience in today’s labor market, most frequently due to unemployment from job loss and temporary lapses to care for family or children. Although existing research shows that employment lapses cause disadvantages at the hiring interface compared to individuals with no employment disruptions, competing theories predict different mechanisms explaining these hiring penalties. In this study, the author uses an original conjoint survey experiment to causally assess perceptions of fictitious job applicants, focusing on a comparison of unemployed applicants and nonemployed caregiver applicants, who left work to care for family, to currently employed applicants. The author examines whether disadvantages for job applicants with employment gaps are receptive to positive information (and therefore represent a form of “informational bias”) or are resistant to information (reflecting “cognitive bias”) and further assesses which types of information affect or do not affect levels of bias in fictitious hiring decisions. Results show that positive information on past job performance and social skills essentially eliminates disadvantages faced by unemployed job applicants, but nonemployed caregiver applicants remain disadvantaged even with multiple types of positive information. These findings suggest that unemployed applicants face informational biases but that nonemployed caregiver applicants face cognitive biases that are rigid even with rich forms of positive or counter-stereotypical information. This study has implications for understanding the career consequences of employment disruption, which is especially relevant to consider in light of labor market disruptions during the recent pandemic.

Parental leave length, social norms, and female labor market re-entry frictions

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 600-620 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vojtech Bartoš ◽  
Barbara Pertold-Gebicka
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Norms ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Social Norm ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Human Resource Managers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Job Applicant ◽  
Employment Gaps ◽  
The Difference

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the role of employers in creating employment gaps among women returning to the labor market after parental leaves of different durations. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a controlled correspondence field experiment that orthogonally manipulates parental leave length and the quality of fictitious female job candidates. The experiment is complemented with a survey among human resource managers. Findings High-quality candidates receive more interview invitations when applying after a short parental leave, while low-quality (LQ) candidates receive more interview invitations when applying after a typical three years long parental leave. Survey results suggest that the difference in invitations between short and typical leave treatments is driven by a social norm that mothers should stay home with children younger than three. Productivity gains from employing a LQ job applicant with a shorter career break might not be high enough to outweigh the adverse social norm effect. Social implications The presented results point toward the strong effect of prevailing social norms on job search prospects of women returning to the labor market after parental leave. Originality/value A correspondence experiment has not been used before to study the relationship between time spent on leave and the labor market prospects of mothers. It also extends research on social norms to the domain of hiring decisions.

Context in Selection of Men and Women in Hiring Decisions: Gender Composition of the Applicant Pool

2005 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jos Van Ommeren ◽  
Giovanni Russo ◽  
Reinout E. De Vries ◽  
Mark Van Ommeren
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Job Applicants ◽  
Effect Sizes ◽  
Gender Composition ◽  
Lower Probability ◽  
Hiring Decisions ◽  
Sex Composition ◽  
Applicant Pool ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Selection Of

The hypothesis that the sex composition of an applicant pool affects the hiring probabilities of individual job applicants was tested using gender-distinctive information on accepted and rejected job applicants in The Netherlands. The evidence supports this hypothesis, although the effect sizes are moderate. Both men and women have a lower probability of being hired when the applicant pool contains fewer applicants from their own sex.

scholarly journals Dying to divulge: The determinants of, and relationship between, desired and actual disclosure

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Carbone ◽  
George Loewenstein
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Preliminary Investigation ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Positive Information ◽  
Self Disclosure ◽  
Types Of Information

Studies suggest that sharing thoughts and information with others may be inherently pleasurable and confer health, psychological, and social benefits to the discloser. At the same time, self-disclosure exposes individuals to scrutiny and the risk of rejection and reputational damage, particularly with the advent of digital applications and social media outlets that promote public, and often permanent, disclosing. In an effort to understand the tradeoffs that underlie the decision to disclose, we introduce a distinction between the propensity to disclose and the psychological desire to disclose and present a preliminary investigation into when and why these two constructs diverge. Findings from two exploratory studies reveal the types of information that individuals are most eager to share, as well as the contextual factors and individual characteristics that moderate the desire to share and the circumstances under which this desire is most likely to translate into actual sharing. We replicate findings from prior research that the decision to disclose is a function of content emotionality and valence, but find that the propensity to withhold negative information is most pronounced when the information is about oneself than about others, and that gender differences in disclosure are largely driven by the tendency for men to withhold negative, but not positive, information. Additionally, we capture motives and traits, many of them previously unexplored in the disclosure context, to model the underlying decision-making process that leads to information sharing and distinguish between the act of sharing information and the psychological desire that differentially engender disclosing behavior.

scholarly journals “Digital” Professions of the Information Specialist: Educational Prospects and Labor Market Requirements

2021 ◽  
pp. 58-70
Author(s):  
Oksana Matvienko ◽  
Michael Tsyvin
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Content Management ◽  
Educational Standards ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Professional Activities ◽  
Web Community ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Types Of Information

The topicality of the study is caused to the contradiction that arises due to the separation of new types of information activities in the digital environment against the background of the uncertainty of the specialties that correspond to them and for which the training of higher education. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the correlation between the qualification requirements for representatives of modern “digital” professions in the field of information and communication activities, namely, managers of web content and web community and the profile of educational standards for training on specialty 029 “Information, library and archival affairs “. The scientific novelty of the study is to substantiate the compliance of professional tasks of specialists in web content management and web community to the competence parameters of educational standards of specialty 029 “Information, library and archival affairs”, the feasibility of developing educational programs for modern “digital” professions in within the specialty 029 “Information, library and archival affairs”. Conclusions. Digitization of all spheres of public life leads to the emergence and formalization of new types of professional activities, including professions of web content managers and web community, for which the labor market-defined design of competencies can be provided through the training on the specialty 029 “Information, library and archival case”. The requirements for such specialists have information and communication, information and management, and social and communicative content and do not need special professional education in the field of computer science. The normative content of education and competence, approved by the standards of higher education in the specialty 029 “Information, Library and Archival Affairs” (bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees), indicates their compliance with defined in the draft of the professional standard “Information Resource Specialist” objects of activity, labor functions and labor actions of representatives of modern “digital” professions – web content manager and web community manager.

Will it be Disclosure or Fabrication of Personal Information?

2010 ◽  
pp. 231-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xun Li ◽  
Radhika Santhanam
Keyword(s):  
Personal Information ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Job Applicants ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Hiring Decisions ◽  
Job Applicant ◽  
Privacy Concerns ◽  
Willingness To Disclose ◽  
Information Sensitivity ◽  
Theoretical Foundations

Individuals are increasingly reluctant to disclose personal data and sometimes even intentionally fabricate information to avoid the risk of having it compromised. In this context, organizations face an acute dilemma: they must obtain accurate job applicant information in order to make good hiring decisions, but potential employees may be reluctant to provide accurate information because they fear it could be used for other purposes. Building on theoretical foundations from social cognition and persuasion theory, we propose that, depending on levels of privacy concerns, organizations could use appropriate strategies to persuade job applicants to provide accurate information. We conducted a laboratory experiment to examine the effects of two different persuasion strategies on prospective employees’ willingness to disclose information, measured as their intentions to disclose or falsify information. Our results show support for our suggestion As part of this study, we propose the term information sensitivity to identify the types of personal information that potential employees are most reluctant to disclose.

Aggregate Recruiting Intensity

2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (8) ◽  
pp. 2088-2127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Gavazza ◽  
Simon Mongey ◽  
Giovanni L. Violante
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Equilibrium Model ◽  
Random Search ◽  
Firm Dynamics ◽  
Hiring Decisions ◽  
Aggregate Shocks ◽  
Fast Growing ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Matching Efficiency

We develop an equilibrium model of firm dynamics with random search in the labor market where hiring firms exert recruiting effort by spending resources to fill vacancies faster. Consistent with microevidence, fast-growing firms invest more in recruiting activities and achieve higher job-filling rates. These hiring decisions of firms aggregate into an index of economy-wide recruiting intensity. We study how aggregate shocks transmit to recruiting intensity, and whether this channel can account for the dynamics of aggregate matching efficiency during the Great Recession. Productivity and financial shocks lead to sizable procyclical fluctuations in matching efficiency through recruiting effort. Quantitatively, the main mechanism is that firms attain their employment targets by adjusting their recruiting effort in response to movements in labor market slackness. (JEL D22, E24, E32, J23, J41, J63, M51)

Evaluating the Impact of “Old” Criminal Conviction Decision Guidelines on Subsequent Employment and Arrest Outcomes

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Denver
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Job Applicants ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Threshold Values ◽  
Background Check ◽  
Criminal Background ◽  
Market Benefits ◽  
The Impact

Objectives: Redemption scholars estimate that after an average of 7-10 years pass without a new arrest or conviction, a person’s criminal record essentially loses its predictive value. This article provides the first labor market and recidivism estimates of implementing a criminal background check decision guideline based on this redemption research. Methods: The sample consists of provisionally hired job applicants in New York State’s healthcare industry with at least one prior conviction. A “10 years since last conviction” guideline situated within a highly formalized criminal background check process plausibly creates conditional random variation in clearance decisions, which allows for a regression model to estimate causal effects. Results: Individuals cleared to work because of the 10-year guideline experience meaningful improvements in employment and earnings, but not recidivism on average. However, men do experience reductions in subsequent arrests, which appears to be driven by more complex factors beyond simply time since last arrest. Conclusions: For some individuals, receiving clearance to work even a decade after their last conviction can have not only labor market benefits, but also important recidivism implications. Future research should explore the employment opportunity/recidivism trade-off in adjusting guideline threshold values and consider alternative redemption strategies.

The Natural Hair Bias in Job Recruitment

2020 ◽  
pp. 194855062093793
Author(s):  
Christy Zhou Koval ◽  
Ashleigh Shelby Rosette
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Black Women ◽  
White Women ◽  
Job Applicants ◽  
White Female ◽  
Job Interview ◽  
Natural Hair ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Job Recruitment

Across four studies, we demonstrate a bias against Black women with natural hairstyles in job recruitment. In Study 1, participants evaluated profiles of Black and White female job applicants across a variety of hairstyles. We found that Black women with natural hairstyles were perceived to be less professional, less competent, and less likely to be recommended for a job interview than Black women with straightened hairstyles and White women with either curly or straight hairstyles. We replicated these findings in a controlled experiment in Study 2. In Study 3A and 3B, we found Black women with natural hairstyles received more negative evaluations when they applied for a job in an industry with strong dress norms. Taken together, this article advances the research on biases in the labor market in the age of social media use and highlights the importance of taking an intersectional approach when studying inequity in the workplace.

scholarly journals Judging good appearance in personnel selection

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (87) ◽  
pp. 656-675
Author(s):  
Altair dos Santos Paim ◽  
Marcos Emanoel Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Personnel Selection ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
Selection Process ◽  
Physical Appearance ◽  
Racial Diversity ◽  
Job Applicants ◽  
Selection Of

ABSTRACT Judgement of what one views as good appearance in the selection of job applicants may reveal racial bias in access to the labor market. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of racism in judging physical appearance in personnel selection. The non-random sample was composed of seventy-four (74) participants, of whom forty-two were human resources professionals (57%). The instruments used were an assessment of résumés, a set of prejudice scales, an inventory of racism in the labor market, an indicator of good appearance and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Three hypotheses were tested. Hypothesis 1, which postulated a preference for white candidates was confirmed. Hypothesis 2 was corroborated, because the professionals showed a higher tendency to choose candidates with a fairer complexion. Hypothesis 3, which made reference to good appearance was rejected, because the participants elected hygiene as a further element present in the judgment in selecting candidates. Finally, it is considered that the selection process should be based on the acceptance of racial diversity, a key element for the development of creative and innovative organizations.

Caught Between Volunteerism and Professionalism: Support by Nonprofit Leaders for the Donative Labor Hypothesis

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirae Kim ◽  
Étienne Charbonneau
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Social Expectations ◽  
Social Expectation ◽  
Nonprofit Leaders

The rise of professionalism within the nonprofit sector has transformed the sector’s reliance on well-meaning volunteers to paid professionals. While the professionalization of the nonprofit workforce is likely to continue, nonprofits are increasingly challenged for their inability to pay competitive wages. Our study argues that a social expectation for nonprofit employees to forgo some of their wages influences the donative labor narrative, which in turn impacts low nonprofit wages. We present data from an online survey experiment of executive directors at 467 nonprofits, along with their organizations’ Form 990 filings, to contrast socially biased attitudes and genuine views toward the donative labor hypothesis. The findings illustrate that the donative labor narrative should be understood as a result of social expectations for sacrifice of nonprofit employees, rather than a simple outcome of supply and demand in the labor market. We discuss the need to reframe the widespread donative labor narrative.

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