Platformization of Inequality: Gender and Race in Digital Labor Platforms

There is a long history of studies documenting inequality and discrimination in the traditional labor market. Conscious/unconscious bias and inequality occur during hiring processes, job allocation, and during job promotions. Yet, these experiences of bias and inequality tend to be overlooked in platform-based work (think Uber, Instacart, Fiverr, Upwork). Our latest article called “Platformization of Inequality: Gender and Race in Digital Labor Platforms” explored this topic by focusing on freelancing platforms. This post provides a brief introduction into the paper and a link to the article preprint.

Why this topic matters

Online freelance work has transformed the world of employment, offering seemingly endless opportunities for individuals to showcase their skills and earn a living from the comfort of their own home. But these apparent benefits tend to overshadow the precarious reality of online freelancers, and hide the profound impact of identity attributes like gender and race on these platforms. Investigating these issues is important given the ongoing growth of platform-based freelancing arrangements.

In 2022, 60 million workers, or 39% of the US workforce, turned to freelancing as many workers redefine what work means beyond traditional career…