We are an Equal Opportunity Employer: The Use of Diversity Signals in Online Job Advertisements and Its Effect on Application Behaviors

Abstract: To attract talent and build a competitive advantage over competitors in the labor market, organizations may use pro-diversity statements in recruitment messages to portray themselves as being committed to diversity in the workplace. However, the benefits of this practice in terms of increasing the quantity of the applicant pool remain contested. Drawing upon signaling theory and the social identity approach, it is proposed that the presence and frequency of diversity signals in job advertisements are correlated to the application outcome. A sample of 976 job advertisements for software engineer positions in Stockholm was collected on LinkedIn and examined for the use of diversity signals in their content. Results showed that even though diversity signals are underrepresented in job advertisements, they were significantly associated with the number of applicants. The study also illustrated a negative relationship between the use of constraint-diversity content-even when it went together with a pro-diversity statement-and the application behaviors of job seekers. These findings illuminated the role of diversity value description in recruitment materials and provided practical implications for human resource managers.