Do Jobseekers Value Diversity Information? A Mixed Methods Investigation

We examine how information about the diversity of a potential employer’s workforce affects individuals’ job-seeking behavior, and whether workers’ preferences explain corporate disclosure decisions. We embed a field experiment in job recommendation emails sent from a leading career advice agency in the U.S. The experimental treatment involves highlighting a diversity metric to jobseekers. Studying 178,862 unique jobseekers, we find that disclosing diversity scores in job postings increases the click-through rate and willingness-to-pay of jobseekers for firms with higher diversity scores. To better understand how heterogeneity among jobseekers affects their attitudes towards diversity information, we conduct a follow-up survey. The survey evidence indicates that diversity information is more valuable to female jobseekers and people of color. Finally, we document that firms in industries characterized by higher jobseeker responsiveness to diversity information tend to voluntarily disclose diversity metrics in their 10-Ks under new SEC disclosure requirements. Overall, our findings generate important insights regarding jobseekers’ demand for diversity information