bias against non-binary employees

In discussions on gender bias, we often focus on binary gender and cisgender identities, and honestly, even more often, the discussion is reduced to talking about women.

Meanwhile, non-binary candidates' experiences are too frequently overlooked.

Business com* conducted an experiment in which they sent two "phantom" resumes to 180 job postings. The resumes were identical, except the test resume included they/them pronouns, and the control did not.

The test resume with pronouns received 8% less employer interest than the control resume.

In the follow-up, it was found that hiring managers felt:

📉 applicant with non-binary pronouns was 7% less qualified for the job

📈 5% less positive about the resume with non-binary pronouns isted

📊 4% less likely to invite non-binary applicant for an initial interview

Some of them, when interviewed, shared openly: 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙧, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖 '𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮/𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢' 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢.

🍒 Cherry on top: most interviewed companies were Equal Opportunity Employers.

If biases against non-binary employees clearly persist already in the hiring phase, we can be sure they are perpetuated throughout the entire employee cycle.

How can we address these prejudices to ensure a truly inclusive workplace?

*Source: Business.com “Job-seekers With Nonbinary Gender Pronouns on Their Resumes Are Less Likely To Be Contacted by Employers