The Reverse Gender Gap in Ethnic Discrimination: Employer Stereotypes of Men and Women with Arabic Names

International Migration Review, s. 1-28. DOI: 10.1111/imre.12170

Abstract

We examine differences in the intensity of employer stereotypes of men and women with Arabic names in Sweden by testing how much work experience is needed to eliminate the disadvantage of having an Arabic name on job applications. Employers are first sent curriculum vitaes (CVs) of equal merit in a field experiment setup. Arabic-named CVs are thereafter enhanced with more relevant work experience than Swedish-named CVs. The results indicate a reverse gender gap in employer stereotypes because initial differences in the number of callbacks disappear for female applicants when Arabic-named CVs are enhanced but remain strong and significant for male applicants. Thus, contrary to what is often assumed about the interaction of gender and ethnicity, we find that Arabic men face stronger discrimination in the labor-market than Arabic women.