Gender-Biased Employee Selection in Kazakhstan - The First Scientific Research: Network Dissemination Project of the EURAM European Academy of Management Conference Paper, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, June 2023.

We present the current HR selection practices in Kazakhstan, a post-socialist country in Central Asia with the highest gender equality index. Despite the new antidiscrimination legislative rules, patriarchic gender views prevail in Kazakh society. Our research applies the grounded theory of gender-biased selection. We examine the key factors of gender discrimination in Kazakhstan. The findings show that cultural factors are stronger in companies and organizations than the raters' influence and evaluation. Personal aspects are crucial. In the case of women, it is their reproductive age. For men, bias is stronger against those older than 30 years. Also, workers with lower qualifications suffer more massively from gender bias compared to sought-after experts. Men are more likely to be hired for traditionally male professions as well as managerial positions. Women are likelier to be hired for typical female and for labor-intensive jobs. Finally, we suggest that researchers, decision-makers, and concerned employers adopt modern selection practices policies at the strategic level so as to be better positioned to utilize the diversity of Kazakhstan's full workforce. Our work is the first scientific research in Central Asia outlining the deeper functioning and context of gender bias minimization among HR managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]