How Is Explicit Gender Preference Justified in Recruitment? Evidence from China's Civil Service Examinations, 2005–2024

• In Event: Gender and Stratification

Abstract

While explicit gender preferences in job requirements are prohibited in most advanced labor markets, they remain common in many societies. Existing research on hiring discrimination has focused mainly on implicit bias in the private sector; we address this gap by examining explicit gender preferences in China’s civil service recruitment. Since 2000, China has institutionalized the National Civil Service Examination (NCSE), an open and standardized system for entry-level state positions. However, despite its meritocratic framing, a substantial share of NCSE postings still includes explicit gender preferences. Using the universe of NCSE job postings from 2005 to 2024, we first show that explicit gender-preferred postings have generally increased, with male-preferred positions rising more than female-preferred positions. We then show that language emphasizing adverse working conditions and physical fitness is associated with explicit male preference. Next, additional analyses indicate that prior recruitment context shapes justificatory language: higher female representation among written-exam passers predicts more frequent use of adverse working condition and physical fitness terms. Finally, interaction models demonstrate that context and language jointly structure male preference through substitution for adverse working condition language and amplification for physical fitness language. Together, these findings suggest that explicit gender discrimination in public sector recruitment is reproduced through administratively legitimate textual justifications. More broadly, the study shows how state hiring systems can maintain an ideal gender composition even within competitive, meritocratic examinations.

Authors

• Fangqi Wen, The Ohio State University

• Man Yao, Denison University

• Siqi Han, The Chinese University of Hong Kong