Why masculine-coded job adverts put women off applying for jobs

The surge in women applying for manual frontline jobs at Thames Water after the company altered the “masculine coded” phrasing of its recruitment adverts shines a light on wider issues related to the wording of job ads.

Thames Water utilised an online tool which unearths the hidden implications in language after women constituted only eight per cent of people who applied for sewage work technician jobs last year. It identified words like “competitive”, “confident” and “champion” as being “masculine coded”.

Studies have frequently shown businesses use highly masculine language in job adverts which in turn deters women – whether consciously or subconsciously – from applying for jobs.

A recent study by Adzuna, a search engine for jobs, found 60 per cent of businesses phrased their job ads in a way which exhibited substantial male bias and ads with more masculine language were less attractive to female applicants.

Tabitha Morton, deputy leader of the Women’s Equality Party, told The Independent: “It is well known that language has a big role to play in encouraging women and minorities to apply for jobs. The way that jobs are described in adverts also tells you a lot about how candidates will be assessed, and if that is against the template of a white, able-bodied man then many of us simply won’t stand a chance.

“If we want the prize of diversity and all that it has to offer, then it needs to be built in at every level. That means changing what job adverts and assessments look like, but it also requires the government to take an active role in dismantling occupational segregation by valuing the roles where women and minorities dominate, such as nursing and social care. With the Coronavirus pandemic triggering a huge recession that will disproportionately impact the sectors where women are employed, this has never been more urgent.”

Textio, an augmented writing platform which has conducted comprehensive research on job applications’ language, has found using "feminine" wording can actively encourage women to apply for roles.

The platform, which examined more than 78,000 engineering jobs, found job descriptions for roles in machine intelligence and back-end engineering were substantially less likely to entice women due to the phrasing.

Sam Smethers, chief executive of leading gender equality charity, Fawcett Society, told The Independent that small changes such as tweaking wording in job adverts can make a sizeable difference.

“To achieve gender equality as we build back better after coronavirus, we need to think big. But small changes like this can make a difference,” she said.

“Things like using name-blind CVs, saying whether roles are open to negotiation, and advertising all jobs with the flexibility options up-front can all make a difference. They cost businesses little to nothing, and can reap rewards in terms of equality.”

Jacqui Hunt, of Equality Now, a non government organisation which aims to promote the rights of women and girls, argued that language is critical to the world due to the fact “words reflect cultural norms and maintain social realities”.

She added: “Everyone should be able to see their potential in a role and that they are welcomed into it. As such, language which is sexist, heterosexist, ablist or racist among others can be used to reinforce power dynamics that uphold the status quo and support the subjugation of disadvantaged groups. Language can also express and promote new ways of thinking which, in turn, has an impact on people’s views and actions. This will increase a variety of applications and lead to more opportunities for a larger number of people. It will also allow companies to benefit from diverse talent which should also inform the way they are run.”