Should preferred pronouns be disclosed on resumes? For non-binary people looking for a job, that decision should consider the now-quantifiable likelihood of discrimination by potential employers. Disclosing the use of nonbinary pronouns on resumes reduces positive employer response by 5.4 to 5.5 percentage points. The results come from a field experiment conducted by Taryn Eames, a PhD candidate at the Department of Economics, University of Toronto. It is the first large-scale study of its kind to examine pronoun disclosure and employer discrimination.

“Putting “they/them” pronouns on your resume will disadvantage applicants in terms of average employer response,” said Eames. “However, if it is important for applicants to work at a company that respects them and their identity, disclosing pronouns may be a useful filter to screen out discriminatory employers.”

Eames’ experiment took the form of a resume audit. She sent thousands of randomly generated fictitious resumes to job postings in pairs. The treatment resume contained pronouns listed below the name and the control resume did not. In the treatment resume, Eames tested both nonbinary “they/them” pronouns and binary “he/him” or “she/her” pronouns consistent with implied gender of the name used on the resume. Resumes disclosing the use of they/them were less likely to receive a positive employer response, such as an invitation to interview, a voice mail or an email requesting a call back, or other expressions of interest. [Read more…]

During the COVID-19 lockdown, John Cairncross thought he needed a hobby. Instead, he found a new career. In 2020 Cairncross started watching YouTube videos of people repairing watches. In December 2023, he successful defended his PhD in Economics and, in March 2024, he will complete his term as an apprentice watchmaker at Rolex.

An economic historian and applied microeconomist, Cairncross will not completely rule out returning to academia at some point in the future, but for now, he’s happy to be part of an industry experiencing a renaissance. The unorthodox career change, he says, is not completely out-of-sync with his dissertation research. Cairncross’ favourite watches to work with are the American pocket watches.

“My research was about the American mid-West and the mass production of watches started there,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “They’re not high end, but they are of a nice, consistent quality and, if they break, they can be made whole again. It might be old-fashioned, but we’re living in a disposable society, and one of the things I like about these watches is that they can be repaired and kept going.” [Read more…]