CSDE Affiliate Sana Khalil (Economics) recently published a study in the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics that explored how gender and residential socioeconomic status shape hiring outcomes in Karachi’s information technology (IT) sector. To investigate employers’ hiring behavior, Khalil employed a three-pronged approach: analyzing job advertisements, conducting a resume audit experiment with 2,032 applications to 508 job openings, and surveying human resource officials. Her analysis provided evidence that employers discriminate based on gender, socioeconomic status (proxied by residential neighborhood), and commuting distance. After controlling for neighborhood, firm size, economic sector, and commuting distance, men received 2.8 percentage points more callbacks than women. Candidates from high-income neighborhoods received 3.2 percentage points more callbacks than those from low-income areas, indicating neighborhood signaling effects.

A qualitative survey of human resource officials working in IT and Sales and Business Development firms revealed that they associate positive work attributes—such as productivity, punctuality, and professionalism—with men and applicants from high-income neighborhoods. The findings highlight how both gender and residential address create compounding barriers in hiring, potentially constraining upward mobility for women and qualified candidates from disadvantaged neighborhoods