A systematic review and meta-analysis of age discrimination in recruitment

Abstract: Correspondence and vignette experiments have already been an important part of measuring discrimination in hiring decisions for several decades, especially in terms of ethnic discrimination. Although the body of evidence is growing, no study has provided a systematic overview of age discrimination in recruitment before. Therefore, the present systematic review investigates the effect of age on discrimination levels experienced in the recruitment process, based on 14 correspondence and vignette studies in 12 distinct articles conducted between 2010 and 2019. We assess age discrimination by looking at call-back rates or indicators of hiring/interview invitation likelihood. Data was analyzedin age groups entailing 30-to 35-year-olds as comparators, and 40-to 49-, 50-to 59-, 60-to 65-and over 65-year-olds as experimental groups. Calculating log odds ratios for the respective comparisons, it was concluded that age discrimination in recruitment is indeed an observable issue, with greatest disparities apparent for participants over the age of 60. Certain limitations of this review will have to be overcome in future; such as restrictions in sample sizes and reported issues on the risk of bias.