The Fact
Experimental research by economists Ian Burn, Patrick Button, Luis Munguia Corella, and David Neumark found that job advertisements containing ageist language reduced applications from older workers. The research experimentally varied wording associated with common age stereotypes and measured actual application behavior.
What This Means
Age filtering can begin before a résumé is submitted. The wording of an advertisement itself can change who decides the job is meant for them.
Sources
- Burn, Ian; Button, Patrick; Munguia Corella, Luis; and Neumark, David. “Older Workers Need Not Apply? Ageist Language in Job Ads and Age Discrimination in Hiring.” NBER Working Paper 26552; later published research based on the same experimental program.
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2023), public hearing transcript, “Navigating Employment Discrimination in AI and Automated Systems.” Testimony identified date of birth, years of experience, and date of graduation as data points that can reveal or proxy age and can contribute to automated ranking or screening.
- Neumark, David; Burn, Ian; and Button, Patrick (2019). “Is It Harder for Older Workers to Find Jobs? New and Improved Evidence from a Field Experiment.” Journal of Political Economy 127(2): 922–970.