Two obstacles to the success of women: ambivalent sexism from interviewers and candidates themselves

Abstract

Ambivalent sexism, which includes both hostile and benevolent sexism, exerts a substantial influence on the trajectory of women’s careers. In this research, we conducted two quasi-experimental studies (Study 1 and Study 2) and one large-scale survey study (Study 3) to investigate the dual impact of ambivalent sexism held by female candidates and male interviewers on women’s job interview outcomes. The data were collected in China, with Studies 1 and 2 involving undergraduate students as participants and Study 3 focusing on employed professionals. As predicted, Study 1 (n = 80) and Study 2 (n = 80) demonstrated that both hostile and benevolent sexism among female candidates and male interviewers negatively impacted the evaluation of women’s employment probability. Study 3 further revealed that this negative effect was mediated by the underestimation of women’s competence. Besides, the findings of three studies indicated that when benevolent sexism levels are high, the negative impact of hostile sexism on the evaluation of female candidates’ competence and their employment probability is significantly intensified. Based on these findings, we suggest that more social attention should be paid to gender bias, and female job seekers should develop more reasonable self-perceptions.