Algorithmic Bias? An Empirical Study of Apparent Gender-Based Discrimination in the Display of STEM Career Ads

Lambrecht, A and Tucker, C E (2019) Algorithmic Bias? An Empirical Study of Apparent Gender-Based Discrimination in the Display of STEM Career Ads. Management Science, 65 (7). pp. 2966-2981. ISSN 0025-1909

Abstract

We explore data from a field test of how an algorithm delivered ads promoting job opportunities in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. This ad was explicitly intended to be gender-neutral in its delivery. Empirically, however, fewer women saw the ad than men. This happened because younger women are a prized demographic and are more expensive to show ads to. An algorithm which simply optimizes cost-effectiveness in ad delivery will deliver ads that were intended to be gender-neutral in an apparently discriminatory way, due to crowding out. We show that this empirical regularity extends to other major digital platforms.

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Item Type:	Article
Subject Areas:	Marketing
Additional Information:	© 2019 INFORMS This manuscript has been accepted for publication in Management Science. The version of record can be found at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2018.3093
Funder Name:	National Science Foundation
Date Deposited:	29 Mar 2018 11:55
Date of first compliant deposit:	23 Mar 2018
Subjects:	Advertising Algorithms
Last Modified:	22 Dec 2024 02:35
URI:	https://lbsresearch.london.edu/id/eprint/967

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