Gender discrimination in hiring in older age? Experimental evidence from employer evaluations

Abstract

Despite extensive research on gender discrimination in hiring, little is known about how gender biases affect job applicants in older age. This study examines whether and how gendered hiring discrimination persists later in life, focusing on variation by the content of the work performed at the workplace, employer gender, and employer role. Drawing on a factorial survey experiment with 5017 Danish employers and 20,068 applicant evaluations, we assess hireability scores and the probability of being selected for applicants aged 45 to 75, representing later-career job applicants. Overall, gender differences in hireability scores are very small: female applicants are rated only slightly lower than males, and this subtle evaluative bias does not translate into lower selection probabilities. However, some context-specific patterns can be found: In production-oriented workplaces, female applicants receive significantly lower ratings and face a corresponding reduction in the likelihood of being selected. Female applicants are also rated somewhat lower by male employers and by workplace owners in production settings. The study does not find contexts in which male applicants are evaluated significantly lower than female applicants. Overall, we conclude that gender disparities in hiring in later career stages are context-specific and therefore largely similar to those documented in studies among younger, reproductive-age applicants.