Is this a sexist job interview question?

[Missp1980n]

In a job interview situation where you have an ‘in-tray’ exercise for the interviewers to see how you prioritise work, would you expect one of the things to prioritise being about your unwell child?
The other items are all job specific tasks but one states that your child has text you saying their abdo pain is worse.
Am I being unreasonable to think this is sexist because as a single mother of course I would prioritise my child over work?
Should I call it out?

This ^

It's to weed out those who are acting for the role, and to find those with enough maturity to recognise the true responsibility in a work/life balance.

”I conduct a lot of interviews in my role. I would never agree to run this scenario or countenance the follow up questions.

I don't think its a trick specifically to weed out single mothers. I do think its a trick to weed out mothers.”

I also wouldn’t include myself, but I’m sharing the reasons why it might be included that aren’t nefarious!

I don’t agree with those who think this is a way to assess peoples approach to a family friendly work environment.

it is unprofessional and assumes everyone has kids.

they way to ensure a good work life balance is to create a positive working environment with proper policies to support that. And with senior management leading by example.

putting odd / trick questions into an in tray exercise simply demonstrates a lack of understanding of HR issues.

The last time I had an in tray exercise like this - with exactly this scenario - 'Your DC has rung with a worsening stomach ache' - my DD was 3- so I was able to 'laugh it off' and put if she is such and has rung me then something has gone seriously wrong !

Honestly there is a time in my life, just after we realised the IVF absolutely wasn't going to work where if I had come across a question like this that assumed I had kids, in a high stress situation like an interview, I probably would have burst into tears.

Its crap for parents (and probably particularly single mums) who will sit there and not know what to put. Whether putting it as a high priority will bias the interviewers against them. Which means they may be more stressed in the interview and therefore perform worse than they would have done otherwise, which is a way of discriminating against them.

Even if its not nefarious its very insensitive and ignores the very real problems women of childbearing age have had when applying for jobs for years.

Terrible question

Ridiculous question! Is it sexist? I'm not sure. I suppose not if it is asked to both females and males interviewees. But it is ridiculous, and I'm not a parent, and I wouldn't be selling my labour to a company that asked that question.

Surely it has the potential to be indirect discrimination (in that everyone is asked it but women tend to carry more of the childcare burden so are more likely than men to struggle with a response). Either way, it's terrible and I wouldn't want to work somewhere that asked that.

I assume both sexes are asked. It is sexist if candidates are penalised for prioritising it 'too highly'. Looking after children's welfare is more often than not women's work in practice.

That said, I'd like to think any decent father would prioritise it in such a task, even if in practice their wives would deal with it.

This is why I hate it when they don't give you the option of explaining why you have prioritised certain things.

My dyslexia means I might give priority to something others would leave until later or I might put a writing task as a priority but do 2 or 3 other things first to get them out away because it needs more attention.

I wouldn't assume it is sexist as it is likely to be something they use for everyone, however I would absolutely challenge them as any mention of children in any shape or form during interview is not appropriate. They are just not allowed to ask and this exercise would involve commenting on your choice so a candidate would inevitably have to disclose it. I wouldn't want to work in this company.

That's a bit of a trap question. I would prefer that such questions are not used. In my company it would count as a valid excuse to leave/take time to sort.

As a person without children, my reasons for needing to leave/take time to deal with stuff are rarely considered important. So I have to be fairly strict to ensure I get work life balance or it would be assumed that I am always available to ensure that everyone else can enjoy flexibility.

As a whole my company would also see it as important, though can vary between actual managers.

It is a difficult one, as if you may need to deal with something important in your personal life (kid related or not) during work time then you do want an employer that recognises the need for a healthy work/life balance. If this question is trying to ensure future employees also recognise it then its a good thing, but it should be phrased around another personal emergency.

I am not sure it is sexist because I believe that the “desirable” answer would be to highly prioritise the child. I think it is more of a trick question. I also think it is a terrible question, because as somebody childless not through choice, I would not be happy to have to imagine how I would deal with a scenario that I never got to have.

I would say indirect sex discrimination, it’s basically the same as asking do you have kids or plan on getting pregnant soon. I would not be working for a company who had a question like this in an interview.

I was once asked “what my home situation was” in an interview and I was like erm “fine”, the recruiter then said “well this is a serious job, so if you have children and they are sick who would look after them” I was so shocked I couldn’t even answer and pulled out of the interview process - btw it’s was an analytical role so a few hours missed and made up in an evening or the next day would not be the end of the world, nobody would die and the university wouldn’t go under if a spreadsheet didn’t get emailed

Yes, indirect discrimination. I would totally pretend my SAHD husband would obviously take care and move on. If that's not actually the case, well, it was a made up scenario.

Sexist but not actionable. alas. "How would you balance childcare with your work" is a legal question. This is the same as disability -- you cannot ask if someone is disabled, but you can ask them what adjustments they will need to access work.

It's an incredibly stupid question on their part. They have opened themselves up to discrimination accusations and unless they have something pretty solid to back up their choice, you, and any one of these pretend candidates of pps can say they were unfairly treated because of this question. It's actually illegal to ask if you have children in a job interview so you are well within your rights to ask why its being asked and what relevance it has for the job.
You might be pleased to avoid the company if they are actively going to discriminate so blatantly at the front door.....

The interviewer could easily respond back with your child has texted you because they cannot get hold of your SAHD husband to force you to answer the question.

Unless they are not asking the male applicants the same question (and forcing an answer as I mentioned) then it is not discrimation based on sex, though it might be against parents depending what answer they are looking for.

It’s not sexist. But it’s an inappropriate question.

This!

You either place it in the list of priorities (therefore telling them you do have children) or remove it on the basis that it doesn't apply to you (therefore telling them you don't have children).

Either way you have given them an answer to a question they are not allowed to ask outright so have devised an interview task to ask it in a roundabout way.

Ha ha, yes - if your DC is still a baby/toddler you'd be prioritising a phone call to Mensa!

It’s a bad question because people will interpret it differently aside from the potential unfairness issues. They could have done a team member having a poorly child instead.

Inappropriate question.

If its a hypothetical question you can't just remove it - you have to prioritise it somewhere.

Its an odd question to ask though if that is what its trying to get an answer for anyway as its based on a child who is obviously independent with a phone so probably high school. If I was wanting to discriminate it would against parents of younger children or those planning to have children.