Even though we might not want to think or believe, there are widely recognized opinions about gender differences which are impacting the recruitment industry. It is commonly believed that men possess “masculine” traits such as independence, aggressiveness and dominance, while women have “feminine” traits such as dependence, passivity and nurturance. These beliefs are stable over time and are usually referred to as gender stereotypes.
These gender stereotypes may create effects in recruitment by firstly influencing the aspirations and expectations of male and female applicants, which in turn can lead recruiters to opinions that members of one gender do not prefer or perform well at certain jobs as compared to members of other gender. Secondly, there could be organizational and legal barriers to employment, such as labor market discrimination and discriminatory laws or organizational policies. The labor market discrimination is a presumption of individuals’ different “taste” in categories like gender on the part of employees, employers and customers. For instance, Epstein (1984) found that members of law firms were reluctant to hire female attorneys because they believed clients preferred male lawyers. Thirdly, applicants’ family responsibilities can affect attitudes of recruiters towards women workers. This is occurring when recruiters take the applicant's actual or assumed family responsibilities into account in their decision making, even though it is illegal for recruiters to inquire about such matters. And lastly, the structure of the pool of job holders is a possible explanation of the effects gender has on recruitment. If the members of one of the gender perceived to be exceptions in a particular profession, that could affect recruiters when evaluating the entry of candidates into the same profession.
Resume evaluation is also prone to gender bias. Evaluation of candidates’ resume is an important pre-employment screening tool since it provides an opportunity for recruiters to make first impressions of applicants’ employability, and later on to make pre-hire decisions. These decisions can be biased if they are based on gender stereotypes. In their research, Cole, Felid & Giles (2004), created two hypotheses, the first one that female recruiters will judge male applicants as having more work experience than female applicants, and the second one that male recruiters will judge female applicants as having more extracurricular activities than male applicants. Both hypotheses were tested and supported by the results. As recruiters typically act as employers’ gatekeepers by providing initial applicant screening decisions, results of research suggested that gender biases during organizational recruitment and selection may occur. Furthermore, findings suggest that women applying for jobs that require “masculine” qualifications and men applying for jobs that require “feminine” qualifications may be stereotypically judged as a poor fit by recruiters.
Luckily, there are solutions to overcome gender bias that address the wider system. As described by Conson Locke in his article “Why Gender Bias Still Occurs And What We Can Do About It”, decision makers, both male and female, must increase awareness of their own biases and try to recognize when these views are affecting their hiring and promotion processes. The tricky part is that these biases occur subconsciously, which means we cannot correct them through conscious effort alone. Additionally, we need to accept both men and women in counter-stereotypical roles. This is very true when it comes to a small number of females in c-level positions as it is difficult for them to ascend to leadership roles. The expectation that men should be agentic makes it difficult for them to choose caregiving roles. Also, companies should collect data on their gender bias. They should examine the gender balance among all applicants compared to successful applicants when hiring and check performance reviews by gender and role to see if there is gender bias occurring at that level. The data will help them to figure out where to concentrate their efforts.
The only way to create meaningful change is to create systems designed to eliminate bias. Changing the systems is crucial whether it is about the government policies, hiring and promotion systems, or simply the way you run your meetings are the key to creating real change. It is important to take individual responsibility, but we must also acknowledge that these issues are rooted in the way we view the leader prototype and gender stereotypes. Thus, change will only happen with a combination of systemic change and individual behavioral and attitudinal change.
It has been suggested that gender stereotypes will slowly disappear as more and more women enter the workforce. However we are all witnesses that gender inequalities within organizations still exist, as researchers have shown, many “old fashioned” attitudes persist in individuals. The more effort companies put together to create positive change, the faster that change will happen. Will this be enough? Will stereotypes exist in 10 or 20 years? Only future research can address.
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