Catherwood LibraryILR School

A new study finds that men who’ve worked part-time jobs in their past may find themselves discriminated against during job searches, while women who’ve worked part-time jobs or who have been unemployed have a significant advantage. The study tracked 2,420 fake job applications to 1,210 real job openings in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, and L.A. Male and female applicants who were previously employed full-time received the same percentage of callbacks. In other categories of recent employment (unemployed, part-time, temporary), women received more callbacks. Women received 10.9 percent callback rate versus 4.8 percent for men if they were previously employed part-time. Sociologist David Pedulla theorizes that men who hold part-time jobs are seen as having failed at finding full-time employment, whereas part-time and temporary jobs are seen as typically “feminized” and “expected” for the female workforce.