Study: Gay Men Offered Fewer Job Interviews

According to a study published today in the American Journal of Sociology, men whose resumes indicate that they’re gay are 40% less likely to be called in for job interviews, especially in the south or Midwest.

Pink News reports that Harvard University researcher Andras Tilcsik submitted two “realistic but fictitious” resumes to 1,700 white collar job openings. One indicated that the applicant had served as a treasurer of his college gay society, while the other mentioned involvement in the “Progressive and Socialist Alliance.”

Tilcsik reasoned that employers were likely to associate both applicants with similarly left-leaning political views, which would increase the likelihood of rejection being based solely on the gay affiliation.

The story says, “The results showed that applicants without the gay reference had an 11.5% chance of being called for an interview. However, [resumes] which mentioned the gay society had only a 7.2% chance. The difference amounted to a 40% higher chance of the heterosexual applicant getting a call.”

The study revealed that the largest differences in callback rates occurred in Florida, Ohio, and Texas, while the “applicants” were treated more equally in western and north eastern states such as California, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and New York.

“The results indicate that gay men encounter significant barriers in the hiring process because, at the initial point of contact, employers more readily disqualify openly gay applicants than equally qualified heterosexual applicants,” Tilcsik said.

Read the full story here.