Organizations use targeted recruitment to attract applicants with specific demographic characteristics to diversify the workforce. Research reports mixed findings regarding the extent to which beneficiaries (i.e., those specifically targeted) are attracted to organizations. We explore this inconsistency by investigating how U.S. college men and women (in Studies 1a, n = 239, and 1b, n = 223) and working adults (in Study 2, n = 128) respond to recruitment materials targeted toward members of the traditionally underrepresented gender—a police department that recruits women and a nursing department that recruits men. As predicted, we found that women report high perceived disadvantage when men are targeted for nursing. However, we show that a gender asymmetry exists such that men and women respond differently when targeted for occupations in which they are typically the minority gender. Specifically, men targeted for nursing positions respond with more perceived disadvantage than do women being recruited to police positions. Our results suggest that backlash may occur such that some groups (i.e., men) respond negatively to targeted recruitment. The implications of our study shed light on an important topic for organizations, researchers, policymakers, and job seekers alike.

中文翻译：

---

招聘（反）优势：男性与女性对基于性别的定向招聘的评价

组织使用有针对性的招聘来吸引具有特定人口特征的求职者，从而使劳动力多样化。研究报告了关于受益人（即那些特别针对的人）被组织吸引的程度的混合调查结果。我们通过调查美国大学男女（在研究 1a，n = 239 和 1b，n = 223）和在职成年人（在研究 2，n = 128）对针对传统上代表性不足的性别——一个招聘女性的警察部门和一个招聘男性的护理部门。正如预测的那样，我们发现，当男性成为护理对象时，女性报告明显处于劣势。然而，我们表明存在性别不对称，当男性和女性针对他们通常是少数性别的职业时，他们的反应不同。具体而言，与被招募到警察职位的女性相比，担任护理职位的男性的反应更为明显。我们的结果表明，可能会出现强烈反对，以至于某些群体（即男性）对有针对性的招聘做出负面反应。我们研究的意义为组织、研究人员、政策制定者和求职者等提供了一个重要主题。