Racialized and Gendered Evaluations of Remote Work

Recent popular articles suggest that racial minorities and women are more inclined toward remote work arrangements than Whites and men. However, these workforce preferences may be at odds with those of employers. To the extent that racial minorities and women prefer remote work and employers devalue remote work experience, such arrangements may unexpectedly create racial and gender workplace inequality. However, little empirical evidence investigates how remote work preferences might affect racial minorities’ and women’s job search behavior and labor market outcomes. Economic and organizational sociologist Mabel Abraham and organizational psychologist N. Derek Brown will examine the extent to which pursuing remote work and having remote work experience exacerbates racial and gender inequality in the labor market. They will conduct field experiments for their study.