The Scope of Statistical Discrimination: An Experimental Study on Gender Barriers in Tech,

Abstract

Women are significantly underrepresented in the technology sector. We design an experimental study using field data to identify the role of statistical discrimination in job applicant assessments. First, we measure the programming skills of job applicants for a programming job. Then, we recruit a large sample of employers consisting of human resource and tech professionals and incentivize them to predict the performance of these applicants based on their standardized resumes. We find no significant gender differences in programming skills. However, consistent with statistical discrimination we find employers perceive female applicants to be significantly less skilled. We also provide experimental evidence that the perceived gender skill gap can be readily eliminated. Employers who were randomized to have access to additional information such as aptitude or personality do not believe that there are gender differences in programming skills. Together, these findings suggest that tech employers believe women are less skilled programmers. Nonetheless, in the context of hiring, the scope for statistical discrimination may be limited in practice as employers often have access to more information when assessing applicants.