In continuing the spirit of International Women’s day, we’ve been exploring the differences between genders when it comes to interviewing with our Smart Interviewer.
Firstly, capturing demographic data is critical to be able to measure and understand the experience that different groups have with your hiring process; and to understand where and how bias may be occurring.
When providing an experience that candidates trust and relax into, they’re more likely to provide their demographic information. 98% of candidates who engage with Sapia.ai’s Smart Interviewer tell us their demographic information, because they trust the experience.
With Sapia.ai, candidates complete a structured interview delivered via text chat, composed of five role-related questions that are designed to uncover the traits and competencies required for success in the role. Using Natural Language Processing, the Smart Interviewer scores candidates on role-fit based on how their personality traits and behavioral competencies align with the requirements of the role.
Our Smart Interviewer is completely blind, meaning it only analyzes candidates’ interview responses and is ‘blind’ or unaware of any demographic data.
We wanted to understand if there were any differences between genders when it comes to scoring, hiring outcomes and experience, so we took a deeper dive into the data.
Across 1.13 million candidates all of whom had self-reported or disclosed their gender, 55% of candidates identified as female, 43% identified as male. 1% identified as non-binary and the remaining 1% identified as another gender or preferred not to disclose. Candidates were applying for varied role types across multiple industries and geographies.
Given the small sample size of candidates who identify as a gender other than male or female, this blog focuses on the differences between males and females.
Females outperform males, marginally
We found that females scored marginally higher than male candidates when scored by the Smart Interviewer for role-fit based on their soft skills. Females had a median score of 0.51, compared to 0.5 for males.
Males and females have an equally positive experience when interviewed over chat
There is very little difference between genders when it comes to the experience of interviewing over chat with our Smart Interviewer.
Candidate satisfaction scores are slightly higher for female candidates, with 9.11/10 vs 9.04/10 for males.
Females and males take almost the same amount of time to complete the chat (32.16 minutes for males and 31.96 minutes for females), while non binary candidates had the shortest completion time with 26.91 minutes. All genders write almost the same number of words when responding (405 for males vs 407 for females).
We also found that females reported higher brand advocacy as a result of their interview experiences, with 84% of females stating that they would be likely to recommend the products/services of the company they applied with; vs 81% of males.
Males are more likely to be hired than females
We found that males are more likely to be hired than females, with 3.62% of males who applied having been hired; and 3.41% of females hired.
Given that females score higher than males; it is interesting to find that they are being hired less. There are variances in industries, with some industries hiring males at a much higher rate, and others on a more equal footing.
Last year an independent study found that female candidates were 30% more likely to apply for a role in technology if they knew that they were going to be evaluated by AI, demonstrating the willingness that female candidates have to engage with a blind, unbiased screening process.
However, this analysis highlights the importance of managing diversity through the entire hiring process, and in having access to data that highlights where and if bias is occurring.
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