Stepping into Job Seekers’ Shoes: New Advances in Understanding Supply-Side Labor Market Processes

Despite much progress in understanding the sources of continued labor market inequality and segregation in organizations and occupations, scholars continue to grapple with understanding why some firms and industries continue to be segregated. One major problem is that most prior research focuses on demand-side processes, which neglect the role that job seeker preferences and behaviors play in sustaining inequality. Instead, this symposium aims to ignite widespread interest in research on the supply-side of the hiring process, specifically job seekers’ behavior as they search for, evaluate, and make decisions to apply for jobs in different firms and industries. We have gathered a strong set of papers, diverse in empirical setting and methodology, but which all represent cutting-edge research in this burgeoning area of scholarship. This symposium proposes that “stepping into job seekers’ shoes” is essential for continuing to advance our understanding of the dynamics of the hiring process and their consequences for inequality and segregation in organizations. Gender and Job Application Sources in the Technology Sector Presenter: Emilio J. Castilla; Massachusetts Institute of Technology Presenter: Serge P. Da Motta Veiga; American U. Presenter: Francesco Sguera; UCP - Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics Outrunning the Past? Prior Employer Status and Job Matching in the MBA Labor Market Presenter: Roxana Barbulescu; HEC Paris Presenter: Rocio Bonet; IE Business School Job Description Effects on Decision to Apply: A Within-Individual Analysis of Gender & Construal Presenter: Brian Rubineau; McGill U. Presenter: Jean-Nicolas Reyt; McGill U. Presenter: Batia Mishan Wiesenfeld; New York U. Haphazard Wording or Systematic Bias? The Prevalence of Gendered Language in US Job Postings Presenter: Matthew Corritore; McGill U. - Desautels Faculty of Management