Law firms are either very astute in the way they hire or they’re just plain sexist. Maybe both. I know there’s fatigue about the problems of the privileged set, but hear me out. According to new research featured in Harvard Business Review, the impact of social status on Big Law hiring varies by gender. Men who drop signs of wealth on their resumes (like references to sailing and tennis) are more likely to draw employer interest, while their female counterparts get shunned.
The study’s authors, Lauren Rivera of the Kellogg School of Management and Andras Tilcsik of the University of Toronto, sent out resumes to almost 150 firms for summer-associate positions. The fictitious applicants hailed from second-tier schools where they ranked in the top 1 percent of their classes and served on the law review. The only variables were gender and extracurricular activities that hinted at their economic status.
