Hiring Discrimination in the Organisational Context: A Harmonized Factorial Survey Dataset from Four European Countries (Germany, Norway, Poland, Romania)
Hiring discrimination has been extensively documented in numerous studies. It is not driven solely by individual actions but is context-dependent, shaped - among other factors - by organisational features that enable or constrain discriminatory behaviour. However, little is known about why some organisations, such as companies or public agencies, discriminate more than others. This data descriptor presents the dataset from a harmonised factorial survey experiment (FSE) on hiring discrimination, which enabled detailed analyses of discriminatory behaviour and the organisational contexts that shape it. The FSE measured discrimination based on nationality, gender and care obligations and was conducted between 2024 and 2025 in four European countries-Germany, Norway, Poland and Romania-among 2,506 recruiters. The dataset includes 15,036 evaluations of hypothetical job candidates for medium-skilled positions, complemented by extensive information on recruiters and the organisations they represent.
Authors
- Katarzyna Lipowska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0702-1560)
- Justyna Bell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9164-7413)
- Mateusz Smoter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5299-7111)
- Rosa Maria Radogna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6084-6946)
- Anatolie Coșciug (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3872-9879)
- Robin Samuel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7598-197X)
- Laura Tufă
- Christian Imdorf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8015-977X)
- Ona Valls (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0680-925X)
- Jon Rogstad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5785-8927)
- Dominik Büttler
- Iga Magda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4923-6922)
- Vegar Bjørnshagen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9471-4853)
- Marta Palczyńska (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3262-5745)
- Nick Wessel
- Mateusz Krząkała
- Sara Ayllón
- Iuliana Precupetu
Institutions
- Leibniz University Hannover (DE)
- Poznań University of Economics and Business (PL)
- University of Bucharest (RO)
- SGH Warsaw School of Economics (PL)
- OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University (NO)
- University of Luxembourg (LU)
- Universitat de Girona (ES)
- West University of Timişoara (RO)
- Institute for Structural Research (PL)
- Metropolitan University (BD)
- University of Warsaw (PL)
- Universidad Metropolitana (PR)
- Romanian Academy (RO)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Data
- Published
- 2026-04-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07187-2
- Primary Topic
- Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00