Men applying for female-dominated jobs face 'significant' discrimination, study finds

Men applying for female-dominated jobs like childcare are “significantly” discriminated against, a study has found.

Male applicants for jobs involving cleaning and working with children are half as likely to be successful as female applicants, according to researchers from Linköping University in Sweden.

However, no discrimination exists against women applying for jobs in male-dominated occupations, they claim.

The researchers submitted 3,200 fictional applications to real job advertisements for 15 professions. They recorded whether the applicant was invited for an interview.

Jobs categorised as male-dominated included mechanic, truck driver, IT developer and warehouse worker. Those considered female-dominated were cleaner, childcarer, preschool teacher, customer service worker, accounting clerk and nurse.

Men struggled the most to get cleaning jobs, the study found. While 28 per cent of female applicants received an interview invitation, only 12 per cent of male applicants did.

Jobs in childcare were also more difficult for men to secure, with only 26 per cent of male applicants being invited to interview compared with 53 per cent of women.

Despite this apparent struggle for men to succeed in stereotypically female-dominated roles, women seemingly had no trouble progressing in applications to male-dominated jobs.

Male and female applicants to be a truck driver were equally likely to be called for an interview, the data showed. Meanwhile, women led the pack in getting interviews for IT developer roles, with 42 per cent securing interviews compared with 39 per cent of men.

"In Sweden, wage offers are essentially never posted in job ads, and there is usually an individual negotiation about wages for each new hire. It is therefore possible that employers may discriminate against men if they expect them to demand higher wages," the study said.

"Another explanation offered in the literature for lower positive employer response rates is gender stereotyping. The female-dominated occupations where we find significant discrimination involve considerable interaction with children (preschool teacher and childcare), with the ailing (nursing), or with families (cleaners). Research in psychology suggests that female stereotypes are associated with communality."

The study was published in the journal PLOS One.