Discrimination at the Intersection of Age, Race, and Gender: Evidence from an Eye-Tracking Experiment Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • AbstractThis paper uses a laboratory experiment with eyetracking and about 6,000 unique randomized resumes to explore the effects of race on employment discrimination over the life cycle for experienced applicants in their mid 30s to 70s. We find striking evidence of race discrimination against primeage Black job applicants that diminishes into middle age before reemerging for older applicants. Screeners in professional programs mechanically process Black and White resumes similarly, but spend less time on resumes for the younger Black applicants. We find evidence of levelsbased statistical discrimination, suggesting that screeners believe younger Black applicants to have worse computer skills and more gaps in their job histories. We also find evidence for variancebased statistical discrimination against Black applicants of all ages, suggesting that screeners perceive the job history signal to be stronger for White applicants than for Black, disproportionately affecting older Black applicants. Evidence from a smaller companion study using Human Resources (HR) managers and from the Current Population Survey (CPS) supports the external validity of our experiment, particularly for female job applicants. Results are robust to a number of different controls and specification choices.

published proceedings

  • JOURNAL OF POLICY ANALYSIS AND MANAGEMENT

altmetric score

  • 22.55

author list (cited authors)

  • Lahey, J. N., & Oxley, D. R.

citation count

  • 17

complete list of authors

  • Lahey, Joanna N||Oxley, Douglas R

publication date

  • September 2021

publisher