Age, physique and disability: first factors of discrimination in hiring

Two researchers from the University of Ghent have identified the main factors of exclusion from the labor market, based on 900,000 blind tests over 15 years. Conclusion: discrimination is not only ethnic and, despite the campaigns, it does not recede.

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Head of Policy

By Bernard Demonty

Published on 3/01/2023 at 18:35Reading time: 3 mins

Sepending on whether you are a young or older person, disabled or not, of European or foreign origin, with a physique considered attractive or not, your chances of success on the labor market will be very different, with the same level of qualification.

This observation, often felt, two researchers from the University of Ghent, Louis Lippens and Stijn Baert, have just made it more objective, by compiling numerous scientific studies published in Belgium and in the rest of the world on the subject. “We relied solely on the work using blind tests, with the sending of false curriculum vitae, specifies Louis Lippens. In total, our findings stem from 900,000 of these tests. »

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