Facebook job ads skewed by gender bias, study finds

According to the study by researchers at the University of Southern California, Facebook targeted an Instacart delivery job ad to a female-heavy audience and a Domino’s Pizza delivery job ad to a male-heavy viewership.

Facebook users may not be learning about jobs for which they are qualified because the company’s tools can disproportionately direct ads to a particular gender “beyond what can be legally justified”, university researchers said in a study published on Friday. According to the study, in one of three examples that generated similar results, Facebook targeted an Instacart delivery job advertisement to a female-heavy audience and a Domino’s Pizza delivery job advertisement to a male-heavy viewership. Instacart has mostly female drivers, and Domino’s mostly men, the study by University of Southern California researchers said.