CV application study finds evidence of age discrimination against older women

The National Bureau of Economic Research has reported findings on a CV/Resume study which shows evidence of age discrimination against older women.  The research paper itself is not free to access but the findings are reported widely in the US press, such as this article in the Washington Post.  The study involved sending out 40,000 resumes or CVs in response to job adverts from fictional applicants in three age bands: ages 29-31, 49-51 and 64-66.  The Washington Posts summarises the findings:

“Overall, fictional workers age 49 to 51 got 18 percent fewer callbacks than those age 29 to 31, and workers age 64 to 66 got 35 percent fewer callbacks, showing a strong bias against older applicants. But for administrative jobs, using a sample of only female applicants, those age 49 to 51 got 29 percent fewer callbacks than applicants age 29 to 31, and workers age 64 to 66 got 47percent fewer callbacks. Sales jobs, which had applicants of both genders, also showed a much greater premium on youth for women than for men“.

This article on Bloomberg Business usefully offers a graphic summary of these results.

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