The liberal norm of non-discrimination in the labor market is far more deeply rooted worldwide than commonly assumed.

In their new blog post, Jürgen Gerhards and Johannes Giesecke show that citizens in most countries clearly support the idea that jobs should be allocated based on qualifications rather than gender, religion, ethnic background, or family ties.

Drawing on data from the international Public Attitudes towards the Liberal Script (PALS) survey, the authors demonstrate that in **22 out of 26 countries** support for non-discriminatory hiring practices clearly outweighs opposition. Chile, Latvia, and Sweden show the highest levels of support, while countries such as Nigeria, Türkiye, Indonesia, and India report significantly lower approval.

The blog post also highlights the importance of global embeddedness and a society’s level of modernization as well as individual characteristics such as education, secularization, and post-materialist values in strengthening endorsement of the non-discrimination norm.

Central takeaway: Despite widespread debates about liberal values, support for fair, qualification-based access to jobs is remarkably strong around the world.