Discrimination against Queer Women in the U.S. Workforce: A Résumé Audit Study

Abstract

Abstract:The author reports on the first study to use an audit method to ascertainwhether discrimination occurs against queer women (relative to straightwomen) when they apply to jobs in the United States. A field experiment wasconducted in which a pair of fictitious women’s résumés were sent to applyto more than 800 administrative jobs from online job databases advertisedby employers across four states. One woman’s résumé was randomly assignedleadership experience at a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)student organization to signal queer identity, while the other résumé, acontrol, was assigned experience at another progressive studentorganization. Results reveal that the women with the LGBT indicator ontheir résumés were discriminated against compared with the other women,receiving about 30 percent fewer callbacks.

Not All Laws are Created Equal: Legal Differences in State Non-Discrimination Laws and the Impact of LGBT Employment Protections

“…1 There is inconclusive evidence of wage differentials for lesbian women, with differences in fertility and selection into the labor market potentially explaining the differences (Klawitter 2015). 2 In addition to the evidence of disparities in pay, there is consistent evidence from resume correspondence studies that heterosexuals are preferred by hiring managers to homosexuals (Bailey et al 2013;Mishel 2016;Tilcsik 2011).…”

Çalışma Yaşamında Ayrımcılık: LGBT Bireylere Yönelik Nitel Bir Araştırma

“…Weichselbaumer (2003) ise çalışmasında, lezbiyenlerin iş görüşmesine çağrılmada, heteroseksüel kadınlara kıyasla %12-13 daha fazla red aldıkları tespit etmiştir. Mishel (2016) tarafından yapılan daha güncel bir araştırmada ise lezbiyenlerin işe alım sürecini incelemek üzere, LGBT+ topluluklarında başkanlık yapma deneyimi eklenmiş kurgusal bir özgeçmiş yaratılarak heteroseksüel bir adaya ait yine kurgusal bir özgeçmiş ile birlikte 800 açık iş ilanına gönderilmiştir. Araştırma sonucunda, lezbiyen kadın adaya ait kurgusal özgeçmişe, %30 oranında daha az geri dönüş olmuştur.…”

Sexual orientation at work: Documenting and understanding wage inequality

“…Discrimination remains a looming factor. Audit studies find that gay men and lesbians are less likely to receive interview offers than heterosexual job seekers, suggesting that employment discrimination may contribute to the wage hierarchy (Adam, ; Ahmed, Andersson, & Hammarstedt, ; Mishel, ; Tilcsik, ). Tilcsik () finds that call‐back rates are lower in states with less favorable attitudes towards “homosexuality.” Other studies find that wage differentials for gay men and lesbians are lower in large urban centers, which tend to have more tolerant populations (Arabsheibani, Marin, & Wadsworth, ; Denier & Waite, ).…”