A Longer Shortlist Increases the Consideration of Female Candidates in Male-Dominant Domains
Extending candidate shortlists (which are typically used as an informal recruitment process in organizations) could help close the gender gap in hiring.
Cite this Article
Lucas, Brian J., et al. “A Longer Shortlist Increases the Consideration of Female Candidates in Male-Dominant Domains.” Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 5, no. 6, 2021, pp. 736-742., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01033-0.
Lucas, B.J., Berry,Z., Giurge,L.M., & Chugh, D. (2021). A longer shortlist increases the consideration of female candidates in male-dominant domains. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(6), 736-742. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01033-0
Brian J. Lucas, Zachariah Berry, Laura M. Giurge, and Dolly Chugh. 2021. “A Longer Shortlist Increases the Consideration of Female Candidates in Male-Dominant Domains.” Nature Human Behaviour 5, no. 6 (2021): 736-42. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01033-0.
Authors
This article was written by , , and , and was originally published by Nature Human Behaviour in January of 2021What barriers do women face when joining the workforce or advancing at the workplace? While some of them can be evident, such as gender discrimination and prejudices, other barriers are much more concealed.
These invisible obstacles are known as ‘second-generation gender bias’, and they refer to non-deliberate, hidden or subtle forms of gender bias. Second-generation bias creates a context in which women fail to thrive or reach their full potential, even when recruiters and bosses do not overtly intend to discriminate against women.
This research article focuses on a possible source of second-generation gender bias: candidate shortlist generation in informal recruitment processes. Many professional advancement opportunities (such as promotions, skills training, and mentorship) are filled through informal recruitment, referrals, and networking, where candidates are recruited at the suggestion of superiors, colleagues, and friends. Informal recruitment may pose a barrier to gender diversity in male-dominated professions because it benefits candidates that come to mind first, and in male-dominated professions, those candidates tend to be men.
In order to counteract the detrimental effects of informal shortlists for women, the authors conducted 10 studies ranging from classroom settings to organizational hiring contexts to test the simple intervention of making an informal shortlist longer as a means to increase the likelihood of listing female candidates.
Cite this Article
Lucas, Brian J., et al. “A Longer Shortlist Increases the Consideration of Female Candidates in Male-Dominant Domains.” Nature Human Behaviour, vol. 5, no. 6, 2021, pp. 736-742., https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01033-0.
Lucas, B.J., Berry,Z., Giurge,L.M., & Chugh, D. (2021). A longer shortlist increases the consideration of female candidates in male-dominant domains. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(6), 736-742. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01033-0
Brian J. Lucas, Zachariah Berry, Laura M. Giurge, and Dolly Chugh. 2021. “A Longer Shortlist Increases the Consideration of Female Candidates in Male-Dominant Domains.” Nature Human Behaviour 5, no. 6 (2021): 736-42. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01033-0.
