Overview

Report title: Increasing applications from women through targeted referrals​

Source: BIT ​

Year published: 2021

Sources
Categories
For Employers
Context
  • Occupational segregation is a persistent driver of gender inequality in the labor market, particularly within male-dominated sectors such as defense​
  • Informal referral systems, while effective for hiring, often amplify existing network biases, resulting in fewer women being referred for roles​
  • The UK Ministry of Defence partnered with BIT to test whether encouraging hiring managers to proactively refer women would increase women’s representation in applications and hires
Outcomes
  • Targeted referrals doubled the number of women referred per vacancy and raised the proportion of women among referrals from 41% to 54%​
  • The intervention increased the average number of applications from women by nearly 3 per vacancy, from 7.8 to 10.7​
  • Offers and hires of women also increased (offers: +0.23 per vacancy; hires: +0.19 per vacancy), without negative effects on men or other diversity groups
Implications
  • Governments and large employers should embed targeted referral prompts into vacancy creation flows, especially in sectors with known gender gaps​
  • Behavioral framing—such as setting a numerical challenge and using timely, personalized messaging—can activate managers as diversity champions​
  • Recruitment platforms should enable inclusive referral mechanisms and feedback loops, and test targeted nudges for other underrepresented groups (e.g., by ethnicity or disability)
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