The mark of mental health problems. A field experiment on hiring discrimination before and during COVID-19
| Autor: | Vegar Bjørnshagen |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
2019-20 coronavirus outbreak
Health (social science) Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) media_common.quotation_subject Personnel selection Recession Norwegian 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine History and Philosophy of Science Humans 030212 general & internal medicine Personnel Selection Job interview media_common Job applications SARS-CoV-2 Hiring discrimination 030503 health policy & services COVID-19 Field experiments Mental health language.human_language Mental Health Job Application language Demographic economics 0305 other medical science Psychology |
| Zdroj: | Social Science and Medicine |
| Popis: | Mental health problems are associated with poor labour market outcomes. Based on data from a field experiment, this article investigates the extent to which hiring discrimination limits the job opportunities of young applicants who disclose a history of mental health problems. From September 2019 to December 2020, 1398 job applications were sent in pairs to 699 employers with job openings in a broad selection of occupations in the Norwegian labour market. The applicants were equally qualified except that, in each pair, one applicant informed about mental health problems as an explanation for a past employment break. The results show that applicants who disclose mental health problems are discriminated against in hiring processes. Applicants with mental health problems have about 27% lower probability of receiving an invitation to a job interview and about 22% lower probability of receiving any positive employer response. These results do not seem to have been driven by the COVID-19 crisis that unfolded during the course of the study. As such, the study provides suggestive evidence that uncertain economic times might not necessarily increase the level of discrimination against applicants with mental health problems. This paper is part of the HIRE project at Norwegian Social Research, Oslo Metropolitan University, funded by The Research Council of Norway (grant number: 273745). |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
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