if employers cannot perfectly observe an applicant s productivity but believe that women are on average less productive than men they will tend to discriminate against female employees so as to enhance the overall productivity of their workforce this type of discrimination might progressively disappear as women close the skills gap but if stereotypes and social norms adjust with a lag change will be slow to materialise employers perceptions may be particularly hard to change in countries where discrimination is strong in such contexts the fact that women are unable to access the best jobs itself a result of discrimination may reinforce employers misperceptions and fuel a vicious cycle of selfreinforcing discrimination and stereotypes