Job Applicants Using ‘They/Them’ Pronouns Less Likely to Be Hired

metroweekly.com:

study published in the Social Science Research Network found that job applicants who use “they/them” pronouns are less likely to be hired.The study’s author, University of Toronto Ph.D.

candidate Taryn Eames, claims the study is “the first large-scale correspondence study focused on evaluating hiring discrimination based on pronoun disclosure.”Eames sent out 7,970 pairs of fake resumes — one with “they/them” pronouns and another without — for a fictitious applicant to large corporations and small businesses in six U.S.

cities, across 15 occupations, between May and October 2023. To control for employers who might discriminate against any applicant who lists pronouns — which some employers may consider a political act, an indication of liberal ideology, or simply unprofessional — the resumes not only compared applicants with “they/them” pronouns to those who didn’t list any pronouns, but also tested responses to hypothetical applicants who listed “he/him” or “she/her” as pronouns.Ultimately, Eames found that nonbinary pronouns on a resume reduced the positive response rate by 5.4% compared to applicants without pronouns and by 3.7% compared to those with binary-gendered pronouns.Eames concluded that this means “an estimated 67% of discrimination against applicants disclosing ‘they/them’ pronouns is due to their nonbinary gender identity.”The study also found that discrimination doubled in Republican-dominated areas versus Democratic-dominated areas.This aligned with findings showing Republicans are more uncomfortable about the idea of transgender, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming identities.