Discrimination in Access to Employment: The Combined Effects of Gender, Origin and Address

This article measures discrimination in the recruitment of management assistants within the Métropole européenne de Lille (Lille European Metropolis) by combining the effects of gender, ethnic origin and address.A sample of 3,000 recruiters was drawn at random from within the companies belonging to the Métropole, to whom we sent information requests in October 2021.The fictitious applicant of North African origin received 27% fewer positive responses than the applicant of French origin.In this regard, men are only discriminated against based on their ethnic origin if they live in a priority neighbourhood for urban policy (Quartier prioritaire de la politique de la ville, QPV).The fact of living in a priority neighbourhood is advantageous for applicants of French origin, probably as a result of the recruitment bonus associated with the Emplois francs scheme, which was fully rolled out and enhanced in 2021; however, this does not benefit applicants of North African origin.These findings call for improved targeting of anti-discrimination measures to capture the populations discriminated against in disadvantaged areas.