The application of the principle of non-discrimination in recruitment means that two written applications which are strictly identical (same curriculum vitae or ‘CV’) – apart from the identity of the applicant – should result in the same likelihood of being invited to a job interview. Observing average differences in positive response rates for individuals whose names are associated with the female gender rather than the male gender thus reveals the existence of discrimination, on average, against one gender (or rather, against identities that reveal that gender). This is known as the Testing method.
Existing testing studies for France suggest that discrimination against women in recruitment is limited on average but varies depending on the contexts studied (Petit (2007); Berson (2012); Edo and Jacquemet (2013b)). This finding is shared by Bertrand and Duflo (2017), who note in their literature review that gender has been the subject of fewer studies at the international level than ethnicity, and that the absence of discrimination on average is likely to reflect the coexistence of situations of both positive and negative discrimination. Discrimination in recruitment may be more pronounced against certain categories of women (for example, those of childbearing age) and in clearly identified situations (for example, for senior management roles).
We will therefore take into account the extent of the relative difficulties women face in gaining access to employment, and we will examine whether these relative difficulties are the same for the two ethnic backgrounds tested in the study.
