These biases which impact the recruitment of women

Rose pour les filles, bleu pour les garçons. Pompiers pour les hommes, infirmières pour les femmes. Voici, de façon très caricaturée, une illustration des « biais de genre » qui nous gouvernent inconsciemment. Fruits de notre éducation et de notre héritage socio-culturel, ces biais cognitifs sont des « raccourcis » créés par notre cerveau pour mieux collecter, classer et analyser l’information. Problème : cette synthèse rapide engendre souvent une perte d’objectivité. Les préjugés ont la vie dure et, aujourd’hui encore, il est difficile d’imaginer une femme « pilote de chasse » ou un homme « secrétaire ». A l’heure de la parité homme-femme en entreprise, comment ces biais cognitifs influencent-ils les processus de recrutement ?

Pink for girls, blue for boys. Firefighters for men, nurses for women. That is an illustration – albeit exaggerated – of the “gender bias” by which we are unconsciously governed. A result of our social and cultural background and our upbringing, these cognitive biases are “shortcuts” created by our brain to facilitate the collection, classification and analysis of information. The problem is that this shortcut often comes at the expense of objectivity. Prejudices are hard to overcome and, even today, it is difficult to imagine a female fighter pilot or a male secretary. At a time of gender equality in business, how do these cognitive biases influence recruitment processes?

To lead or to build?

American researchers had already examined the subject by studying the scope of the words(2) “leaders” and “competitive”, which are more frequently associated with male traits. Women are more receptive to terms such as “interpersonal relations” and “support”. The conclusion is that the choice of words when writing a job offer is decisive and if you are looking for “a computer ninja” or “a web rockstar”, it’s a safe bet that 99% of applications you receive will be from men.

Women submit fewer applications, but of a higher quality

To understand the impact of gender on applicants’ careers, last March (3) LinkedIn conducted a massive study analyzing billions of interactions, from the job application through to recruitment. 

The first lesson from the study is that women view more job offers than men, but apply to far fewer (20% less on average globally). The reason is simple: before applying, a woman believes she must meet 100% of criteria, while a man will be satisfied with 60%. More surprisingly, the LinkedIn study emphasizes that recruiters are more willing to click a male profile (13% more clicks) than a female one. 

How to create an unbiased advert

So how can we counteract these unconscious cognitive biases that seem to dominate the selection of profiles? Simply by removing indicators such as applicants’ names and photographs, suggests LinkedIn. The professional network also encourages recruiters to pay close attention to job descriptions, since women are more interested in benefits (job flexibility, healthcare, etc.), the pay scale and operational tasks.

More demanding recruiters

However, these precautions are not enough on their own, since new cognitive biases enter the picture once this initial selection is over. This is revealed in another survey, this time by the University of California and the University of Southern California. This found that in a recruitment interview female applicants will be interrupted more (25% more on average) than their male counterparts. Recruiters become more demanding, questioning them on their skills and dwelling on their lack of experience. And that's tough for a woman with a child! Female applicants, meanwhile, tend to over-prepare, making the interview very academic. Fearing trick questions, they focus more on their weak points rather than their skills.

Is AI sexist?

There are many cognitive biases in the recruitment process and they need to be properly known and understood to avoid the pitfalls. This requires real awareness on the part of HR departments, as well as women. The surest way to combat these prejudices is to encourage a redistribution of roles that are frequently gender stereotyped. Paternity leave is one example and shows that it is possible to be a leader, father and effective employee, without that having a negative career impact.

(1) https://www.bbc.com/news/business-44399028?ns_campaign=bbcnews&ocid=socialflow_facebook&ns_source=facebook&ns_mchannel=social

(2) Evidence that gendered wording in job advertisements exists and sustains gender inequality

(3) “Gender insights report: How Women Find Jobs Differently", published on March 5 

Photo credits: Franck Dunouau, Saint-Gobain, Weber Sweden, © Jacob Lund/Shutterstock