In discussions on gender bias, we often focus on binary gender and cisgender identities, and honestly, even more often, the discussion is reduced to talking about women.
Meanwhile, non-binary candidates' experiences are too frequently overlooked.
Business com* conducted an experiment in which they sent two "phantom" resumes to 180 job postings. The resumes were identical, except the test resume included they/them pronouns, and the control did not.
The test resume with pronouns received 8% less employer interest than the control resume.
In the follow-up, it was found that hiring managers felt:
📉 applicant with non-binary pronouns was 7% less qualified for the job
📈 5% less positive about the resume with non-binary pronouns isted
📊 4% less likely to invite non-binary applicant for an initial interview
Some of them, when interviewed, shared openly: 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖 '𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮/𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢' 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.
🍒 Cherry on top: most interviewed companies were Equal Opportunity Employers.
If biases against non-binary employees clearly persist already in the hiring phase, we can be sure they are perpetuated throughout the entire employee cycle.
How can we address these prejudices to ensure a truly inclusive workplace?
*Source: Business.com “Job-seekers With Nonbinary Gender Pronouns on Their Resumes Are Less Likely To Be Contacted by Employers
