Women, Criminal Records, and Certificates of Relief: An Experimental Study

Abstract Few studies have examined the impact of criminal history on hiring outcomes for women and even fewer studies have explored the effectiveness of mechanisms aimed to improve hiring outcomes for women with criminal history. The overall objectives of the current study were to examine (1) whether criminal history negatively influenced hiring outcomes for women and if so, (2) whether Ohio’s certificate of relief could improve hiring outcomes for women. These objectives were achieved with the use of an experimental correspondence audit that addressed limitations of prior research and utilized innovative methodological approaches. The results showed that callback (i.e., invitation to continue in the hiring process) point estimates for those with no record were higher than those with a record and no certificate. However, the differences between these two conditions lacked statistical significance. Further, while callback probabilities for certificate holders were statistically indistinguishable from those with no record, the callback probabilities for certificate holders were also statistically indistinguishable from those with a record and no certificate. Finally, there were no statistically significant racial differences. These results were supported in several robustness checks. Despite the lack of statistical significance, several findings have substantive significance and these findings are discussed in detail.