A New Turning Point for Women: Artificial Intelligence as a Tool for Reducing Gender Discrimination in Hiring

Abstract

This paper examines whether firms’ use of AI affects their proportion of female managers hired. The study uses panel data from the 500 largest companies in Europe and the US based on their revenues and employs a difference-in-differences approach. Despite concerns raised in the existing literature regarding AI being biased, the findings show that, on average, firms’ adoption of AI leads to a 40% increase, relative to baseline, in the hiring of female managers. Further analysis of heterogeneity between types of AI used reveals that this effect is primarily driven by firms using assessment software. In contrast, firms employing predictive algorithms do not exhibit significant differences in the gender diversity of their managerial hires, compared to firms that do not employ AI at all.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, gender, hiring, discrimination

JEL Classification: J16, J71