Bias in Hiring: How Appearance, Education, and Gender Influence Interview Opportunities for Human and AI Recruiters

Employment discrimination remains a persistent issue in the labor market. Human resources (HR) professionals act as the gatekeepers in the recruitment process, where biases often emerge, potentially influencing hiring decisions. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in HR, it is essential to examine whether AI can mitigate these biases or if it simply perpetuates them. This study uses a multi-study design to investigate how key attributes of job applicants—specifically physical attractiveness, education level, and gender—affect interview selection outcomes. Study 1, focusing on junior HR professionals, reveals that appearance and education significantly impact the likelihood of being invited for an interview, with higher levels of both attributes increasing the chances. Study 2, examining senior HR professionals, identifies gender as an additional factor influencing interview outcomes. The traditional view is that senior recruiters are more likely to have a preference for men, but research has found that they are actually more likely to give women more interview opportunities.. Study 3 explores AI-driven resume screening, where results show that while AI does not factor in gender, it displays preferences for candidates with higher education and Physical attractiveness. Overall, while human recruiters tend to be influenced by appearance and education, AI offers a more neutral stance on gender. However, both human HR and AI systems reveal biases related to educational background. Keyword:appearance discrimination | recruitment | educational background discrimination | gender discrimination | interview opportunities