Science University Research Symposium (SURS)

Reading Between the Roles: Gender Bias in Resume Evaluation

Publication Date

Fall 11-24-2025

College

College of Sciences & Mathematics

Department

Psychological Science, Department of

SURS Faculty Advisor

Dr. Michael Oliver

Presentation Type

Metadata Only

Abstract

This study investigated the potential for gender bias to affect perceived job fitness. Existing research suggests that gender bias influences hiring evaluations depending on job context (Galos & Coppock, 2023). Gender bias is defined as a systematic preference or prejudice toward one gender over another when gender is not meaningfully relevant to job performance (Hardy et al., 2021). To examine this, participants reviewed three resumes: one male-typed, one female-typed, and one gender-neutral, and were asked to imagine they were hiring for nine different positions: three stereotypically male, three stereotypically female, and three gender-neutral roles. Participants then rated how well each resume fit each position. A 3 (resume type) × 3 (job type) repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant interaction between resume type and job type, F(16, 464) = 13.24, p < .001, indicating that perceptions of job fit depended on both the resume’s gender cues and the job’s gender stereotyping. Pairwise comparisons showed that male-typed resumes were rated significantly higher than female-typed or neutral resumes for traditionally masculine and gender-neutral positions, including financial analyst, project manager, mechanic, marketing manager, and accountant. In contrast, female-typed resumes were rated highest for stereotypically feminine roles such as elementary school teacher, nurse, and administrative assistant. Neutral resumes tended to receive moderate ratings across all positions but were rarely rated as the best fit. Overall, these results support the hypothesis that hiring evaluations are influenced by occupational gender stereotypes, underscoring the persistence of implicit gender bias in perceived job suitability.

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