New Research Suggests Prison Accomplishments and Proactive Disclosure Can Overcome Hiring Biases
New research led by the University of Houston suggests that formerly incarcerated people are more likely to receive job search assistance if they voluntarily disclose their past while highlighting accomplishments earned during their sentence.
The findings offer a new perspective on “Ban the Box,” a fair-hiring policy that removes the criminal history checkboxes from initial job applications to delay background checks until later in the process. While meant to level the playing field, the policy has its limitations, said Lawrence Houston III, lead author and assistant professor of management in UH’s C. T. Bauer College of Business.
“The Ban the Box policy doesn’t allow applicants to demonstrate the capabilities or skills they acquired while they were incarcerated,” Houston said. “It also doesn't prevent organizations from conducting a background check. It often just delays the point at which the bias or discrimination occurs.”
Published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, the study suggests that how applicants disclose their history can shape employer responses and potentially boost their job search.
Testing the Narrative
Houston — along with UH student Horatio Traylor and researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — sent mock job-search emails to approximately 4,900 state legislators across the U.S.
Posing as fictitious individuals with a felony drug conviction, researchers asked for referrals to jobs or employment assistance agencies. All resumes included a three-year employment gap but varied in disclosure:
- Unexplained gap: An applicant seeking assistance with no mention of the employment gap.
- Basic disclosure: An applicant stating the gap was due to incarceration.
- Disclosure with achievement: An applicant disclosing incarceration while highlighting specific skills, work experience and education obtained in prison.
| Lawrence Houston III, assistant professor of management in UH’s C. T. Bauer College of Business |
The odds of receiving a response were 31% lower for emails indicating incarceration without achievement information, and 68% lower for those providing no explanation at all, compared to messages that highlighted prison accomplishments. Messages that included achievement information also garnered higher-quality assistance.
In follow-up studies, online participants rated candidates who highlighted prison accomplishments as having significantly higher competence and moral character than those who disclosed incarceration without context. This strategy proved especially powerful when compared to other employment gaps, such as parental leave, suggesting that achievement-based disclosure is a vital tool for overcoming the specific stigma of a criminal record.
Policy Progression
For those with violent convictions, Houston said individuals might need to provide even more context regarding their character and “reparative” efforts to address employer concerns about morality.
To shift the focus from a criminal record to rehabilitation, the research outlines several policy recommendations:
- State and federal officials should guarantee incarcerated individuals the opportunity to participate in college-level education and work-release programs.
- Correctional institutions should provide credible, shareable documentation — such as performance evaluations and certificates — that former inmate can present to employers.
- Employers should move away from blanket rejections and instead weigh the circumstances of a past conviction against documented achievements.
A Broader Mission at Bauer
Houston’s research aligns with other initiatives at the Bauer College of Business, such as the Empowering Women Out of Prison (EWOP) program. Through this program, students in the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship help incarcerated women develop business skills and conduct research they cannot access while behind bars.
Houston plans to continue his work by focusing on the unique challenges faced by women in the prison system. While men make up more than 90% of the U.S. prison population, the rate of female incarceration is increasing more rapidly.
Additionally, Houston has collaborated with the RISE re-entry program in Nebraska to learn more about the unique challenges formerly incarcerated individuals face when re-entering the workforce. He hopes to create toolkits and workshops to help real-world applicants navigate the transition into life after prison.
“We aren’t suggesting that employers should just give someone a job because they have been to prison,” Houston said. “We are trying to create interventions to help organizations better screen and select those who have a high probability of success on the job.”
Key Takeaways
- A University of Houston-led study suggests formerly incarcerated individuals are significantly more likely to receive job search assistance when they proactively disclose their history while highlighting specific achievements earned during their time in prison.
- While policies like “Ban the Box” aim to reduce discrimination, this research shows that framing a narrative of growth and documented rehabilitation is more effective at building employer trust and perceptions of competence.
- The study emphasizes that for fair hiring to succeed, government and correctional institutions must provide inmates with credible, shareable credentials that translate prison work and education into professional merit.
Published on April 16, 2026 on University of Houston’s website: https://www.uh.edu/news-events/stories/2026/april/04162026-workforce-reentry-research.php