Words matter: Experimental evidence from job applications

Abstract

If women are more sensitive to listed qualifications in job ads, does lowering the bar draw in relatively more women and increase diversity in the applicant pool? We examine this question by randomizing 60,000 viewers into one of two job ad versions for over 600 corporate jobs at Uber, where the treatment removed optional and superfluous qualifications. There are two main findings. First, job seekers of both genders respond to qualifications: applications increase by 7%, owing to similar increases in the number of applications from men and women. Second, reducing the qualifications impacts the type of individual who chooses to apply differently by gender. Reducing the qualifications draws in less skilled women and causes an outflow of some highly skilled women. Conversely, the treatment draws in men from across the skill distribution, including the upper end. We find gender differences in application behavior and explore potential mechanisms in a separate, large-scale survey using the RAND American Life Panel. These results highlight that sensitivity to listed requirements is complex, and simply lowering the qualifications in job postings is not guaranteed to increase applicant diversity.