Bias in Hiring Women Reduced, Remains Unchanged for Men

In traditionally male-focused fields, the employment bias against women has substantially reduced over the years, yet, it remains challenging for men to secure jobs in female-dominated sectors.

These findings originated from an international meta-analysis that summarized the data from 85 studies, investigating the probability of male and female job applicants receiving an interview invitation.

The data comprised job seeking information from 361,000 individuals across 24 countries over a span of 44 years, featuring inputs from diverse nations including Sweden, Jamaica, the United States, and the Soviet Union.

The researchers categorized the data into distinct time frames to investigate any evolving trends.

The findings revealed that between 1976 and 1991, men received more interview invitations than women in both male-dominated and gender-neutral jobs.

However, starting 2009, in traditionally male-focused fields, the interview invitation disparity between genders ceased to exist.

In certain years, women even had a slightly higher likelihood of receiving an interview invitation in a gender-neutral field, and a markedly higher chance in a female-dominated field compared to men.

This resonates with the results from a meta-analysis of Finnish research conducted in 2016.

Men had to submit twice as many applications as women to receive an interview invitation for a job typically associated with females, such as waiting or office work.

Conversely, women were just as likely to get an interview in the construction industry, driving jobs, and related tests as men.

The research concluded that, at least in some of the target countries, gender bias against women in hiring practices has substantially decreased over the 44-year period.

On the other hand, men continue to face discrimination in typically female fields.

The researchers hypothesized in their report that this could be due to changing societal stereotypes about women, with their educational level rising and the perception of them being less competent than men diminishing.

However, men are still not perceived as suitable for professions that require a people-oriented approach, such as teaching at the elementary level or working in the care sector.