The authors investigate the importance of employer preferences in explaining sticky floors, the pattern in which women are less likely, as compared to men, to start to climb the job ladder. The authors perform a randomized field experiment in the Belgian labor market and test whether hiring discrimination based on gender is heterogeneous by whether jobs imply a promotion (compared to the applicants’ current position). The findings show that women receive 33% fewer interview invitations when they apply for jobs that imply a first promotion at the functional level. By contrast, the results show that their hiring chances are not significantly affected by the authority level of the job.
AlbertRocíoEscotLorenzoFernández-CornejoJosé A.2011. A field experiment to study sex and age discrimination in the Madrid labour market. International Journal of Human Resource Management22: 351–75.
2.
AlbrechtJamesBjörklundAndersVromanSusan. 2003. Is there a glass ceiling in Sweden?Journal of Labor Economics21: 145–77.
3.
AltonjiJoseph G.BlankRebecca M.1999. Race and gender in the labor market. In AshenfelterOrleyCardDavid (Eds.), Handbook of Labor Economics, pp. 3143–259. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
4.
ArrowKenneth J.1973. The theory of discrimination. In AshenfelterOrleyReesAlbert (Eds.), Discrimination in Labor Markets, pp. 3–33. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
5.
ArulampalamWijiBoothAlison L.BryanMark L.2007. Is there a glass ceiling over Europe? Exploring the gender pay gap across the wage distribution. ILR Review60: 163–86.
6.
ÅslundOlofSkansOskar N.2012. Do anonymous job application procedures level the playing field?ILR Review65: 82–107.
7.
AzmatGhazalaPetrongoloBarbara. 2014. Gender and the labor market: What have we learned from field and lab experiments?Labour Economics30: 32–40.
8.
BaertStijn. 2014. Career lesbians: Getting hired for not having kids?Industrial Relations Journal45: 543–61.
9.
BaertStijnCockxBartGheyleNielsVandammeCora. 2015. Is there less discrimination in occupations where recruitment is difficult?ILR Review68: 467–500.
10.
BakerJoe G.2003. Glass ceilings or sticky floors? A model of high-income law graduates. Journal of Labor Research24: 695–711.
11.
BassaniniAndreaSaint-MartinAnne. 2008. The price of prejudice: Labour market discrimination on the grounds of gender and ethnicity. In OECD Employment Outlook: 2008, pp. 139–202. Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
12.
BaumleAmanda K.2009. The cost of parenthood: Unraveling the effects of sexual orientation and gender on income. Social Science Quarterly90: 983–1002.
13.
BeckerGary. 1957. The Economics of Discrimination. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
14.
BehaghelLucLe BarbanchonThomasCréponBruno. 2015. Unintended effects of anonymous resume. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics7(3): 1–27.
15.
BergmannBarbara R.1989. Does the market for women’s labor need fixing?Journal of Economic Perspectives3: 43–60.
16.
BertrandMarianneBlackSandra E.JensenSisselLleras-MuneyAdriana. 2014. Breaking the glass ceiling? The effect of board quotas on female labor market outcomes in Norway. NBER Working Paper No. 20256. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
17.
BertrandMarianneMullainathanSendhil. 2004. Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American Economic Review94: 991–1013.
18.
BlandfordJohn M.2003. The nexus of sexual orientation and gender in the determination of earnings. ILR Review56: 622–42.
19.
BlauFrancineDevaroJed. 2007. New evidence on gender differences in promotion rates: An empirical analysis of a sample of new hires. Industrial Relations46: 511–550.
20.
BlinderAlan S.1973. Wage discrimination: Reduced form and structural estimates. Journal of Human Resources8: 436–55.
21.
BloothooftGerritOnlandDavid. 2011. Socioeconomic determinants of first names. Names59: 25–41.
22.
BoothAlison L.2009. Gender and competition. Labour Economics16: 599–606.
23.
BoothAlison L.FrancesconiMarcoFrankJeff. 2003. A sticky floors model of promotion, pay, and gender. European Economic Review47: 295–322.
24.
BoothAlison L.LeighAndrew. 2010. Do employers discriminate by gender? A field experiment in female-dominated occupations. Economics Letters107: 236–38.
25.
BorjasGeorge J.2009. Labor Economics. New York: McGraw-Hill.
26.
BudigMichelle J.EnglandPaula. 2001. The wage penalty for motherhood. American Sociological Review66: 204–25.
BursellMoa. 2007. What’s in a name? A field experiment test for the existence of ethnic discrimination in the hiring process. Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies Working Paper No. 2007–7. Stockholm: Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies.
29.
CarlssonMagnus. 2011. Does hiring discrimination cause gender segregation in the Swedish labor market?Feminist Economics17: 71–102.
30.
CarterNancy M.SilvaChristine. 2011. Does Doing All the Right Things Really Get Women Ahead?New York: Catalyst.
31.
CharlesKofi K.GuryanJonathan. 2008. Prejudice and wages: An empirical assessment of Becker’s The Economics of Discrimination. Journal of Political Economy116: 773–809.
32.
ChristofidesLouis N.PolycarpouAlexandrosVrachimisKonstantinos. 2013. Gender wage gaps, ‘sticky floors’ and ‘glass ceilings’ in Europe. Labour Economics21: 86–102.
33.
CorrellShelly J.BenardStephenPaikIn. 2007. Getting a job: Is there a motherhood penalty?American Journal of Sociology112: 1297–339.
34.
DarityWilliam A.Jr.MasonPatrick L.1998. Evidence on discrimination in employment: Codes of color, codes of gender. Journal of Economic Perspectives12: 63–90.
35.
DeschachtNickBaertsAnneleenGuerryMarie-Anne. 2011. De m/v carrièrekloof. Carrièreverschillen tussen vrouwen en mannen in België. Ghent: Academia Press.
DufloEsther.2006. Field experiments in development economics. Unpublished manuscript, MIT Economics.
38.
FaganColetteMenéndezMaria GonzálezAnsonSilvia Gómez. 2012. Women on Corporate Boards and in Top Management: European Trends and Policy. Chippenham, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
39.
FangZhengSakellariouChris. 2011. A case of sticky floors: Gender wage differentials in Thailand. Asia Economic Journal25: 35–54.
40.
FilippinAntonioIchinoAndrea. 2005. Gender wage gap in expectations and realizations. Labour Economics12: 125–45.
41.
FirthMichael. 1982. Sex discrimination in job opportunities for women. Sex Roles8: 891–901.
42.
ForretMonica L.DoughertyThomas W.2004. Networking behaviors and career outcomes: Differences for men and women?Journal of Organizational Behavior25: 419–37.
43.
GradínCarlosRíoCoral del. 2009. Gender wage differentials in Spain: A distributional approach by subpopulations. Hacienda Pública Española189: 9–46.
44.
GrootWimvan den BrinkHenriette Maassen. 1996. Glass ceilings or dead ends: Job promotion of men and women compared. Economics Letters53: 221–26.
45.
HachenDavid S.1990. Three models of job mobility in labor markets. Work and Occupations17: 320–54.
46.
HakimCatherine.2010. Erotic capital. European Sociological Review26: 499–518.
KaasLeoMangerChristian. 2012. Ethnic discrimination in Germany’s labour market: A field experiment. German Economic Review13: 1–20.
49.
KassenboehmerSonja C.SinningMathias G.2014. Distributional changes in the gender wage gap. ILR Review67: 335–61.
50.
KmecJulie A.2011. Are motherhood wage penalties and fatherhood bonuses warranted?Social Science Research40: 444–59.
51.
KrauseAnnabelleRinneUlfZimmermannKlaus F.2012. Anonymous job applications in Europe. IZA Journal of European Labor Studies1: article 5. doi:10.1186/2193-9012-1-5.
52.
LudsteckJohannes. 2014. The impact of segregation and sorting on the gender wage gap: Evidence from German linked longitudinal employer-employee data. ILR Review67: 362–94.
53.
MatteazziEleonoraPailhéArianeSolazAnne. 2014. Part-time wage penalties for women in prime age: A matter of selection or segregation? Evidence from four European countries. ILR Review67: 955–85.
54.
NeumarkDavidBankRoyVan NortKyle. 1996. Sex discrimination in restaurant hiring: An audit study. Quarterly Journal of Economics111: 915–41.
55.
OakleyJudith G.2000. Gender-based barriers to senior management positions: Understanding the scarcity of female CEOs. Journal of Business Ethics27: 321–34.
56.
OaxacaRonald. 1973. Male-female wage differentials in urban labor markets. International Economic Review14: 693–709.
57.
PetitPascale. 2007. The effects of age and family constraints on gender hiring discrimination: A field experiment in the French financial sector. Labour Economics14: 371–91.
58.
ReubenErnestoRey-BielPedroSapienzaPaolaZingalesLuigi. 2012. The emergence of male leadership in competitive environments. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization83: 111–17.
59.
RiachPeter A.RichJudith. 1987. Testing for sexual discrimination in the labour market. Australian Economic Papers26: 165–78.
60.
RiachPeter A.RichJudith. 2002. Field experiments of discrimination in the market place. Economic Journal112: 480–518.
61.
RiachPeter A.RichJudith. 2006. An experimental investigation of sexual discrimination in hiring in the English labor market. B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis and Policy5: 1–22.
62.
Romeu GordoLaura. 2009. Why are women delaying motherhood in Germany?Feminist Economics15: 57–75.
63.
SmithNinaSmithValdemarVernerMette. 2013. Why are so few females promoted into CEO and vice president positions? Danish empirical evidence, 1997–2007. ILR Review64: 949–80.
64.
TaubmanPaul J.WalesTerence. 1974. Higher Education and Earnings: College as an Investment and Screening Device. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
WeichselbaumerDoris. 2004. Is it sex or personality? The impact of sex stereotypes on discrimination in applicant selection. Eastern Economic Journal30: 159–86.
68.
WeinbergerCatherine. 2011. In search of the glass ceiling: Gender and earnings growth among U.S. college graduates in the 1990s. ILR Review64: 949–80.
69.
WoodMartinHalesJonPurdonSusanSejersenTanjaHayllarOliver. 2009. A test for racial discrimination in recruitment practice in British cities. DWP Research Report No. 607. London: UK Department of Work and Pensions.
70.
YapMargaretKonradAlison M.2009. Gender and racial differentials in promotions: Is there a sticky floor, a mid-level bottleneck, or a glass ceiling?Relations Industrielles—Industrial Relations64: 593–619.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
