When preferences create barriers: women's spatial struggles in recruitment

Purpose Geographic mobility is widely regarded as a strategic organizational asset, yet women's commuting, relocation and flexibility preferences are often interpreted differently during recruitment. This study examines how recruiters interpret mobility-related information when evaluating women candidates for mid-level technology roles in India's technology sector. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory qualitative design was employed using semi-structured interviews with recruiters from multinational technology firms and executive search agencies in Bangalore. Data were analyzed through the complementary lenses of spatial entrapment theory, economic geography and Acker's concept of inequality regimes, with intersectionality theory serving as a sensitizing lens. Findings Recruiters' accounts reveal that commuting, relocation and flexibility are frequently interpreted as indicators of organizational fit rather than reflections of broader structural constraints. Under hiring pressures, recruiters draw upon prior experiences and organizational expectations to translate women's mobility constraints into employability judgments, inadvertently reproducing gender inequality despite formal diversity commitments. Originality/value This study shifts attention from women's mobility constraints to the organizational processes through which those constraints acquire evaluative meaning during recruitment. It demonstrates how routine recruitment practices transform structural constraints into perceived individual limitations, explaining why symbolic diversity initiatives often fail to produce equitable hiring outcomes.