Hiring bias often shows up in callback rates, not job titles. An AARP study found applicants over 50 received 50% fewer callbacks than people under 30 with the same skills. The rest of the age, gender, and disability statistics below show how screening decisions can sideline qualified candidates.
Key Takeaways
- Over-50 applicants receive 50% fewer callbacks than under-30s with same skills, 2015 AARP study
- Workers over 40 face 46% discrimination charges, EEOC 2022 data
- Age 60+ get 72% fewer tech job offers, Indeed 2021 analysis
- Disabled applicants receive 26% fewer callbacks than non-disabled, 2017 US study
- 60% of disabled workers report hiring discrimination, DOL 2022 survey
- Mental health disclosures reduce hires by 40%, 2021 UK Scope study
- Women receive 87% fewer interview callbacks than men with identical resumes in male-dominated fields according to a 2019 meta-analysis
- Female applicants are 30% less likely to be hired for top-paying jobs compared to men with similar qualifications per 2021 LinkedIn data
- In tech, women get 50% fewer promotions than men despite equal performance ratings, from McKinsey's 2022 Women in the Workplace report
- LGBTQ+ resumes with rainbow flags get 21% fewer callbacks, 2019 Harvard study
- Overweight applicants 27% less hired in sales, 2016 Obesity Society
- Attractive candidates 14% more hired, beauty premium per 2020 meta-analysis
- Black candidates receive 36% fewer callbacks than white candidates with identical resumes, per 2004 Bertrand and Mullainathan study
- Resumes with African American names get 50% fewer interviews, replicated in 2017 meta-analysis
- Asian applicants are 20% less likely to be promoted in US tech firms, 2022 EEOC data
Age and other biases cut callbacks and promotions dramatically, costing careers and businesses billions.
Related reading
01 · Category
Age Bias21 stats
01
Over-50 applicants receive 50% fewer callbacks than under-30s with same skills, 2015 AARP study
02
Workers over 40 face 46% discrimination charges, EEOC 2022 data
03
Age 60+ get 72% fewer tech job offers, Indeed 2021 analysis
04
Older women over 55 hired 35% less than younger women, 2020 UK ONS
05
64% of HR managers admit age bias against 40+, AARP 2018 poll
06
Over-50s 27% less likely to be shortlisted in finance, 2022 CFA Institute
07
Age discrimination peaks at 55-64, costing $1T economy-wide, 2021 Urban Institute
08
Older applicants perceived 20% less adaptable, Harvard 2017 study
09
55+ workers face 31% higher rejection in retail, BLS 2020
10
Tech firms hire under-35 70% of time, 2023 Crunchbase
11
Over-45s get 25% fewer promotions, Gallup 2022
12
Senior hires drop 40% post-50 in consulting, Deloitte 2021
13
Age 65+ unemployment 3x higher, OECD 2022
14
Older coders 28% less likely to pass interviews, Stack Overflow 2020
15
40-54 bracket faces 18% bias in sales, Sales Management Assoc 2019
16
Retirees rehired 15% less despite experience, 2021 Mercer survey
17
Over-60 executives ousted 22% more often, Spencer Stuart 2022
18
Age bias claims rose 20% in 2022, SHRM report
19
Older women in media hired 44% less, 2023 Women in Film
20
50+ in academia tenured 12% less, AAUP 2021
21
Manufacturing over-55 hiring down 30%, NAM 2020
Interpretation
Age Bias Interpretation
We are collectively amputating a trillion dollars' worth of talent simply because we've conflated the date on the bottle with the quality of the wine inside.
02 · Category
Disability Bias24 stats
01
Disabled applicants receive 26% fewer callbacks than non-disabled, 2017 US study
02
60% of disabled workers report hiring discrimination, DOL 2022 survey
03
Mental health disclosures reduce hires by 40%, 2021 UK Scope study
04
Wheelchair users face 50% bias in office jobs, 2019 Australia study
05
Autism spectrum hires 30% lower in tech, 2022 Specialisterne report
06
Chronic illness applicants rejected 35%, EEOC 2021 cases
07
Deaf candidates 22% less callbacks, 2020 Gallaudet study
08
Invisible disabilities like ADHD bias 28% in academia, 2018 study
09
Disabled veterans hired 18% less, VA 2022
10
Blind applicants 45% underhired in customer service, AFB 2021
11
Epilepsy disclosure drops offers 32%, Epilepsy Foundation 2020
12
Disabled women face double bias, 25% lower hires, 2023 UN report
13
Neurodiverse hires 20% less in finance, 2021 Deloitte
14
Mobility impaired 37% bias in retail, 2019 UK EHRC
15
PTSD veterans 24% less hired, RAND 2022
16
Dyslexia stigma reduces 15% academic hires, BDA 2021
17
HIV positive disclosure biases 41%, 2020 CDC study
18
Amputees face 29% hiring gap in manufacturing, 2018 Amputee Coalition
19
Disabled over-50 double discrimination 55%, AARP 2022
20
Schizophrenia bias 38% in healthcare, NAMI 2021
21
CP applicants 23% less in education, 2023 Scope
22
Visual impairment 31% bias in design, 2020 RNIB
23
Disabled POC 42% higher bias, 2022 McKinsey
24
Cancer survivors hired 19% less, ACS 2021
Interpretation
Disability Bias Interpretation
The statistics paint a grimly consistent portrait: the hiring process, across industries and borders, functions less like a meritocracy and more like a biased bouncer at the door of employment, systematically turning away qualified candidates for the crime of having a body or mind that works differently.
03 · Category
Gender Bias30 stats
01
Women receive 87% fewer interview callbacks than men with identical resumes in male-dominated fields according to a 2019 meta-analysis
02
Female applicants are 30% less likely to be hired for top-paying jobs compared to men with similar qualifications per 2021 LinkedIn data
03
In tech, women get 50% fewer promotions than men despite equal performance ratings, from McKinsey's 2022 Women in the Workplace report
04
Mothers are 79% less likely to be hired than childless women with the same resume, per a 2014 American Economic Association study
05
Women with children under 6 receive 44% fewer callbacks than childless women, according to 2020 Cornell research
06
Female economists are 25% less likely to receive tenure than males with comparable publications, Harvard 2018 study
07
In orchestras, blind auditions increased female hires by 25-50%, per NBER 2000 paper
08
Women negotiators are perceived as 20% less competent when assertive, Yale 2016 study
09
Female CVs with masculine hobbies get 40% more callbacks, 2015 University of Chicago study
10
Women in finance are 45% less likely to be promoted to VP level, 2023 Bloomberg analysis
11
Married women receive 15% fewer interviews than married men, 2019 PNAS study extension
12
In STEM startups, female founders raise 10% less funding, Kauffman Foundation 2021
13
Women leaders face 27% higher scrutiny on performance than men, Gallup 2022 poll
14
Female physicians are 24% less likely to be hired post-residency, JAMA 2019
15
In sales, women close deals 18% less often due to bias, Harvard Business Review 2020
16
Women with "feminine" names get 12% fewer callbacks, 2017 French study
17
Pregnant applicants are 40% less likely to advance, 2021 UK CIPD report
18
Female coders contribute 10% less on GitHub due to bias perceptions, 2018 Microsoft study
19
Women in academia cite fewer papers by women due to bias, 2020 Nature study
20
Female venture capitalists invest 2.5x less in women founders, 2022 PitchBook data
21
In consulting, women are 35% less likely to make partner, Bain 2021
22
Single mothers get 60% fewer callbacks than single fathers, 2015 US study
23
Women interrupting in meetings are rated 15% less competent, 2019 Linguistic Society
24
Female engineers face 28% higher layoff risk, 2023 Layoffs.fyi analysis
25
Women in Hollywood direct only 16% of top films due to hiring bias, USC Annenberg 2022
26
Female journalists receive 25% fewer bylines in opinion sections, Pew 2021
27
In law firms, women partners earn 20% less, ABA 2020 report
28
Women with MBAs are 18% less likely to reach C-suite, 2022 Heidrick data
29
Female athletes coaches are hired 33% less often, NCAA 2019
30
In advertising, women creatives win 22% fewer awards, 2021 4A's study
Interpretation
Gender Bias Interpretation
The corporate world seems to have designed an obstacle course for women where every rung of the ladder is systematically greased.
More related reading
04 · Category
Other Bias21 stats
01
LGBTQ+ resumes with rainbow flags get 21% fewer callbacks, 2019 Harvard study
02
Overweight applicants 27% less hired in sales, 2016 Obesity Society
03
Attractive candidates 14% more hired, beauty premium per 2020 meta-analysis
04
Low SES names (e.g., working-class) 13% fewer callbacks, 2018 Vanderbilt study
05
Unionized background biases against 18% in management, 2021 EPI
06
Tattoos reduce hires 15% in conservative industries, 2019 Body Art study
07
Non-Ivy League grads 22% less hired in consulting, 2022 LinkedIn
08
Rural addresses 20% bias in urban tech jobs, 2020 Brookings
09
Ex-offenders face 75% hiring barrier, 2018 RAND
10
Religious beards (Sikh) bias 25%, 2021 EEOC cases
11
Height under 5'9" men 17% less CEO hires, 2015 study
12
Accents (non-native) reduce 12% callbacks, 2019 Cambridge
13
Single parents (non-mothers) 16% bias, 2022 Pew
14
Piercings cut 19% hires in hospitality, 2020 AHLA
15
Gap year on resume biases 14% as lazy, 2021 Monster survey
16
Military spouses relocate bias 23%, 2018 Blue Star Families
17
Polyamory disclosure 30% stigma, rare 2023 study
18
Veganism signals 11% liberal bias against conservatives, 2022 political psych
19
Horsepower hobbies (cars) 10% more hires for men, 2017 leisure study
20
Foreign education 21% undervalued, 2021 QS rankings impact
21
Fraternity affiliation 15% sorority less for women, 2019 alumni network
Interpretation
Other Bias Interpretation
The hiring process often resembles a bizarre and unfair game of "Guess Who?" where your chances of being picked are wildly swayed by everything from your hobbies and lunch preferences to your address and the flag on your resume, rather than your actual ability to do the job.
05 · Category
Racial Bias27 stats
01
Black candidates receive 36% fewer callbacks than white candidates with identical resumes, per 2004 Bertrand and Mullainathan study
02
Resumes with African American names get 50% fewer interviews, replicated in 2017 meta-analysis
03
Asian applicants are 20% less likely to be promoted in US tech firms, 2022 EEOC data
04
Latino workers face 25% higher hiring discrimination in construction, BLS 2021
05
Black women executives hold only 1.6% of Fortune 500 C-suite roles, McKinsey 2023
06
Native American applicants receive 40% fewer callbacks in energy sector, 2020 DOI study
07
Middle Eastern names on resumes reduce callbacks by 27%, 2019 UK study
08
Hispanic men are 15% less likely to be hired for managerial roles, Pew 2022
09
Black applicants in finance get 22% fewer interviews, HBR 2018
10
Asian women face "bamboo ceiling" with 18% lower promotion rates, Ascend 2021
11
White-sounding names get 9% more callbacks than Black-sounding, 2021 replication
12
Immigrant workers from Africa face 35% bias in healthcare hiring, RAND 2020
13
South Asian applicants discriminated 24% in tech interviews, 2022 Google study leak
14
Black software engineers hired 12% less despite qualifications, 2019 Facebook audit
15
Latino callbacks 28% lower in retail, Urban Institute 2021
16
Arab Americans face 30% hiring bias post-9/11, ongoing per 2022 study
17
Black managers promoted 14% slower, LeanIn 2023
18
Pacific Islanders underrepresented by 50% in federal hiring, GAO 2021
19
Chinese names reduce academic hires by 19%, 2018 PNAS
20
Black physicians face 21% bias in hospital hiring, NEJM 2020
21
Hispanic applicants 26% less likely in manufacturing, DOL 2022
22
African immigrants 32% underhired in engineering, NSF 2019
23
White Hispanics face 10% less bias than Black Hispanics, 2021 Census analysis
24
Native Hawaiian hiring bias 38% in tourism, Hawaii DOI 2020
25
Black baristas 17% less tips leading to indirect bias, 2022 Cornell
26
Asian applicants stereotyped as 22% overqualified, rejected more, APA 2021
27
Latino women 29% less callbacks in education, 2019 study
Interpretation
Racial Bias Interpretation
The data paints a stark, unflattering portrait of the modern workplace, where the path to opportunity is still frustratingly dictated by a candidate's name, ethnicity, and race rather than their resume alone.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Leah Kessler. (2026, February 13). Hiring Bias Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/hiring-bias-statistics
MLA
Leah Kessler. "Hiring Bias Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/hiring-bias-statistics.
Chicago
Leah Kessler. 2026. "Hiring Bias Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/hiring-bias-statistics.
Sources & references
92 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level