French employers guilty of discriminatory practices ? The results of the first hiring discrimination benchmark study reveal that France is affected by profound inequalities in the job market, as measured by the following:
→ Age:
Age is the first form of discrimination, with a candidate 48 to 50 years old getting three times as few positive responses as a 28- to 30-year-old one.
→ Origin:
A candidate with a North African name (no picture) also receives three times as few responses as someone with an “indigenous” French first and last name. This type of discrimination, while significant in itself, may appear modest—a 2004 study on hiring salespeople found that a North African candidate had five times fewer positive responses than an indigenous French candidate.
→ Handicap:
A disabled candidate has a two-fold lower chance of getting an interview. This level of discrimination may be much higher for some types of jobs, and conversely, almost non-existent for getting into certain firms.
→ Gender and physical appearance:
A 32-year-old married woman with three children, and a plain candidate, have 37% and 29% fewer opportunities respectively of getting an interview.
Survey methods
This survey, conducted by the ADIA group, compared the results (invitation to interview) obtained by a reference candidate (28- to 30-year-old male, with an “indigenous” French name, no picture) and dummy candidates likely to face discrimination. A total of 6,461 CVs were sent out in a year, in response to 1,340 job ads. The rate of positive responses for the dummy applications averaged 9.26%.