Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the interactive effects of gender and age on evaluations of job applicants. Given the double jeopardy hypothesis, the authors might anticipate that older women would be denigrated most in hiring evaluations. However, given expectations of normative gender behavior, the authors might anticipate that older men would be penalized most for not already having stable employment. This study aims to examine which hypothesis best describes selection biases based on age and gender. Design/methodology/approach – Stimuli depicting male and female job applicants at the various ages were developed. The stimuli were standardized by collecting facial photos of older White men and women at ages 20, 40, and 60, and morphing these faces onto standardized bodies using Adobe Photoshop. Participants viewed six stimuli, one from each age by gender combination, and made evaluations across job relevant dimensions. Findings – Results showed an interaction between age and gender, such that older male applicants were evaluated more negatively than older female and younger male applicants. These findings support for the violation of gender normative behavior hypothesis. Practical implications – This study has implications for organizational leaders who can use this information to provide training for selection officers concerning biases against older workers and how to avoid them. Originality/value – Original, novel stimuli are used in an experimental design to examine the effects of age in employment in a standardized manner which controls for extraneous variables such as attractiveness across age.

When race-related injustices occur in society, organizations can respond by sending supportive signals to prospective and current employees. Using signaling theory (Spence, 1973), the current study examines the outcomes associated with organizations' public declarations of support for the Black community following race-related mega-threats (Leigh & Melwani, 2019). In Study 1, prospective employees evaluated a specific organization (Ben & Jerry's) that publicly supported the Black community following race-related mega-threats. Those who perceived higher levels of organizational support for diversity and inclusion (POSDI) reported higher organizational attraction (OA). Study 2 described a fictitious organization that responded to race-related mega-threats by messaging support for either Black Lives Matter (BLM), Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, or no social movement. Prospective employees perceived higher levels of POSDI when the company issued a statement in support of BLM (relative to the other movements), which in turn was associated with higher OA. Study 3 focused on current employees and examined how POSDI influences financial outcomes in real Fortune 500 companies. Organizations that issued statements publicly supporting the Black community following a race-related mega-threat received higher POSDI ratings by employees, which predicted increased organizational revenue, even after controlling for revenue prior to making the statements.In sum, organizations that signal public support for the Black community in the wake of a race-related mega-threat not only increase prospective employees' POSDI, but may also boost OA and, ultimately, financial revenue.

Women continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Past research has demonstrated that gender stereotypes can perpetuate this disparity by influencing people's perceptions of prospective students. This study used manipulations of individuation (individuated vs. nonindividuated) and goal type (agentic vs. communal) to examine STEM professors' receptiveness toward male and female prospective students' e-mail requests for meetings. Nonindividuated students simply sent a meeting request; individuated students provided an additional statement highlighting their research experience. Agentic goal types focused on stereotypically "male" traits such as agency and leadership, and communal goal types focused on stereotypically "female" traits such as helping and serving. Based on previous research, it was hypothesized that professors would show a positive bias toward male students, individuated students, and students with goal types that were congruent with the stereotypes of their gender. E-mails were sent to a sample of 1,879 STEM professors who had previously recommended their female students for a career development workshop. Findings indicate more receptive responses toward female prospective students, more receptive responses from male professors, and an interaction between prospective student gender and goal type. Male prospective students received less receptive responses when they mentioned a communal goal (vs. agentic); however, female prospective students received responses similar in receptiveness, regardless of goal type. The implications of these results are mixed, which may be a function of the sample of professors who engaged in the study (i.e., faculty who had previously engaged in activities supportive to female mentees). Future research directions are discussed.

This article details a classroom demonstration of how gender differences in cognitive schemas can result in men and women differentially interpreting the same information. Students heard a series of six homonyms (e.g., bow and nail) spoken aloud and wrote down the first word with which they free-associated each homonym. When hearing the words (e.g., bow), men were more likely to respond with a male-gendered word (e.g., arrow), whereas women were more likely to respond with a female-gendered word (e.g., hair). The demonstration is easy to administer, takes approximately 10 min, results in strong differences, and improves students’ understanding of gender differences in cognitive schemas.

No abstract