Doctoral Dissertation Research: Gender and the Evaluation of Job Applicants in Interactive Settings

博士论文研究：互动环境中的性别与求职者评价

• 批准号: 0703220
• 负责人: Shelley Correll
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Cornell University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-04-01 至 2008-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0703220&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Gender; Evaluation

Shelley CorrellEsther QuinteroCornell UniversityResearchers have argued that occupational sex segregation will not be fully understood until detailed data are collected on natural (Biernat & Fuegen 2001) and non-scripted settings where men and women interact (Ridgeway & Correll 2004). Interactional sites are crucial to the maintenance and reproduction of hegemonic gender beliefs which often result in subtle, but cumulative disadvantages for women in the workplace (Ridgeway 1997). Thus, it is essential to examine interactional settings to understand and address persisting inequalities between men and women in employment. This project intends to make a direct contribution to this goal by applying formal theory established via laboratory experiments to a real-world context where actual job applicants interact with evaluators who are recruiting them for jobs. Although hiring settings are rarely accessible to researchers, this project identifies a unique context that permits direct observation and data collection on real hiring decisions made in the course of direct interaction. This study looks at the Spanish exam system that is used to recruit candidates to fill important government jobs where women are currently underrepresented; about 20% of these jobs are filled by women. In Spain, civil service competitions are public and consist of various qualifying rounds of testing where job applicants and evaluators interact face-to-face. Important gender differences have been observed at testing rounds that involve a high level of applicant-evaluator interaction, but not at rounds where interaction is minimal. This project will examine the content of these interactions, and will identify the specific mechanisms that are preventing women from being recruited. I observed, voice recorded, and transcribed 90 interactive exam sessions. An analysis of these taped sessions will help us understand why important gender differences emerge only in interactive rounds but not in others. The knowledge gained from this research will serve to generate theory based interventions to promote equal representation of men and women across industries and jobs. Current policy measures are not always effective partly because they are divorced from sociological theory and knowledge. This study will shed light on the specific processes by which evaluators and recruiters are often compelled to choose male applicants to fill the best jobs. A better understanding of such processes will guide policy recommendations to help women as they seek to obtain high status positions.

研究人员认为，只有在收集到关于男女互动的自然（Biernat Fuegen 2001）和非脚本环境（里奇韦Correll 2004）的详细数据之后，才能完全理解职业性别隔离。干预场所对于维护和复制霸权性别观念至关重要，这种观念往往导致妇女在工作场所处于微妙但累积的不利地位（里奇韦，1997年）。因此，必须审查干预环境，以了解和解决就业方面持续存在的男女不平等问题。该项目旨在通过将通过实验室实验建立的正式理论应用于现实世界的背景下，实际的求职者与招聘他们的评估人员进行互动，从而为这一目标做出直接贡献。尽管研究人员很少接触到招聘环境，但该项目确定了一个独特的背景，允许对直接互动过程中做出的真实的招聘决策进行直接观察和数据收集。这项研究着眼于西班牙语考试系统，该系统用于招聘候选人填补重要的政府职位，这些职位目前妇女人数不足;这些职位中约有20%由妇女填补。在西班牙，公务员竞争是公开的，包括求职者和评估者面对面互动的各种资格考试。在申请人与评价人互动程度高的测试回合中观察到了重要的性别差异，但在互动程度最低的回合中则没有这种差异。该项目将审查这些互动的内容，并确定阻止女性被招募的具体机制。我观察，录音，并转录了90个互动考试环节。对这些录音会议的分析将有助于我们理解为什么重要的性别差异只出现在互动回合中，而不是在其他回合中。从这项研究中获得的知识将有助于产生基于理论的干预措施，以促进男女在各个行业和工作中的平等代表性。目前的政策措施并不总是有效的，部分原因是它们脱离了社会学理论和知识。这项研究将揭示评估人员和招聘人员往往被迫选择男性申请人填补最佳职位的具体过程。更好地了解这些过程将指导政策建议，帮助妇女争取高地位职位。