Group Recruiting Events and Gender Stereotypes in Employee Selection

Abstract

This paper reports the results of three studies that together provide converging evidence in support of theory that gender stereotypes bias employee selection during group recruiting events. Specifically, we find that female (male) job candidates who tend to exhibit stereotypically male personality traits or behaviors receive lower (higher) evaluations during group recruiting events. Prior research suggests gender stereotypes do not bias employee selection during one-on-one interviews. However, our results suggest that evaluating job candidates in the more social context of group recruiting events can have important unintended consequences on employee selection, a key component of the accounting control environment. Given the importance of on-campus group recruiting events to inform hiring decisions across organizations such as investment banks and public accounting firms, our results contribute to a better understanding of survey and field evidence suggesting that entry-level male and female employees have different personalities at these organizations which appear to influence their career trajectories.