There are significant inequalities between women and men in the labour market (in terms of pay, career progression, etc.). However, the extent to which conditions affecting access to employment contribute to these occupational inequalities remains poorly understood.
The Institute for Public Policy carried out a “test” to measure gender-based discrimination in recruitment across a range of occupations, varying in terms of their skill level, proportion of female workers and recruitment difficulties. This large-scale experiment involved sending fictitious CVs in response to several thousand job vacancies across eleven different occupations, varying the identities of the applicants. On average, women and men are contacted by employers with equal frequency; there is therefore no detectable gender discrimination during the first stage of the recruitment process.
However, there are significant disparities relating to the level of qualifications required, with women being at a disadvantage in the least-skilled occupations but favoured in managerial roles, particularly those involving supervisory responsibilities.
This study is the result of a collaboration between the Directorate for Research Coordination, Studies and Statistics – Research Coordination Unit (Dares-MAR), the Institute for Public Policy (IPP) and the Inter Service Migrants – Centre for Observation and Research on Urban Areas and their Transformation (ISM CORUM). This study received financial support from Dares.
