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Contemporary Accounting Research Vol. 38 No. 4 2021

Group Recruiting Events and Gender Stereotypes in Employee Selection*

Kirsten Fanning1; Jeffrey O. Williams2; Michael G. Williamson3

1 DePaul University · 2 Utah Valley University · 3 University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

Abstract

This paper reports the results of multiple studies that together provide converging evidence in support of the theory that gender stereotypes bias employee selection during group recruiting events. Specifically, we predict and find that female (male) job candidates who exhibit stereotypically male behaviors receive lower (higher) evaluations during group recruiting events, particularly among male recruiters. Prior research suggests gender stereotypes do not bias employee selection during one‐on‐one interviews. However, our results suggest that evaluating job candidates in the more social context of group events can have important unintended consequences on employee selection, a key component of the accounting control environment. Given the importance of group recruiting events to inform hiring decisions across organizations such as investment banks and public accounting firms, our results contribute to a better understanding of survey and field evidence suggesting that entry‐level male and female employees have different personalities at these organizations, which appear to influence their career trajectories.

DOI
10.1111/1911-3846.12710
Volume
38
Issue
4
Pages
2496-2520
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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