Committee Chair

Walker, Ruth V.

Committee Member

Shelton, Jill A.; Ross, David F.; Black, Kristen J.

Department

Dept. of Psychology

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Different forms of discrimination occur within phases of the employment process (attraction, selection, retention), with an estimated 20-40% of employers influenced by bias in their hiring decisions. Sexism and ageism are among the most prevalent forms; however, detecting hiring discrimination is complex and often unreported. The current study focused on the attraction phase to examine how age and gender intersect to create employment barriers and opportunities. A sample of 800 job ads were collected from white-collar, blue-collar, female-and-male-dominated occupations across the U.S. Using a mixed methods approach, data were analyzed through an exploratory, content analysis to identify previous and nuanced gendered and age biased language to develop a repository for LIWC to conduct a series of 2x2 factorial ANOVAs. A significant interaction was found between job industry and gender dominance in the gendered age language bias to indicate a young man candidate. Limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express sincere gratitude to my mentor, Dr. Ruth Walker, for her guidance and support throughout my entire thesis project. Thank you for the countless hours you have invested into me as your graduate student and provided towards my professional and personal growth. I am truly grateful to have had you as my advisor. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Dr. Jill Shelton, Dr. David Ross, and Dr. Kristen Black, for giving their time and expertise into my thesis. Additionally, I would like to thank my research assistant, Will Higdon, for his assistance with data collection and analysis. Finally, thank you to the Scholarship, Engagement, the Arts, Research, Creativity, and Humanities (SEARCH) Award Program for funding my master's thesis.

Degree

M. S.; A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Date

5-2024

Subject

Age discrimination in employment--United States; Glass ceiling (Employment discrimination); Occupational segregation; Sex discrimination in employment--Investigation--United States

Keyword

hiring discrimination; job advertisements; intersectionality; ageism; sexism; implicit bias; text-based analysis

Document Type

Masters theses

DCMI Type

Text

Extent

x, 69 leaves

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/

Date Available

12-31-2025

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Available for download on Wednesday, December 31, 2025

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