Just 4 percent of job adverts at top UK companies use gender-neutral language, according to a new study by instantprint.
The research sought to discover whether the language used in job adverts for some the UK’s leading companies is geared more towards a specific gender, or whether it has been tailored to be gender-neutral.
An overwhelming majority (70%) was found to be using feminine-coded language, while just a fifth (19%) seemed to be geared towards men.
Of these, 59 percent used strongly feminine-coded wording, while just 10 percent seemed to strongly target male candidates.
Which roles are the most geared towards women?
Examining the findings on an industry level, it seems job adverts for teaching-related roles are currently the most geared towards women, with all postings in this area using feminine-coded language, followed by HR/Admin (80%).
And this seems to be partly reflected by the gender split of workers holding positions in these areas, too.
Analysing data from NOMIS, a service provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the study found women hold 68 percent of the roles in the teaching industry and 72 percent of administrative positions.
Surprisingly, instantprint analysis of job adverts language revealed the third sector with the highest percentage of female-coded job adverts was IT and Engineering, with 72 percent of the ads using feminine-coded language. In this sector, according to NOMIS data, women hold just 22 percent of the roles currently.
But what do UK employees think about gender bias in their current workplaces?
As part of the study, instantprint also surveyed 2,000 UK employees about their perceptions regarding their current workplace and how gender-neutral they believe the approach to staff, comms, and working culture to be.
Over half of the respondents believe their company has a gender-neutral approach when it comes to staff and culture (56%), however it is more common for people to believe their workplace is male-orientated (16%) than female-orientated (9%).
Those in the accountancy, banking and finance sectors were the most likely to believe their company approaches staffing and culture in a non-biased way (70%).
This was closely followed by those working in leisure, sports and tourism (68%) and public services and administration (64%).
In contrast, those employed within industries such as transport and logistics were less likely to believe this, even though over half of workers in this field (52%) thought that was the case.
Mandy Watson, Managing Director of recruitment experts Ambitions Personnel, says:
“The use of gendered language in job adverts is one of the key factors that need to be addressed when removing bias from onboarding procedures.
“We all know it’s direct discrimination and illegal to advertise a job looking exclusively for male or female candidates – but the use of gendered language, which can be subtle and happen unconsciously, is still rife. The benefits of having a diverse workforce are vast. In the current climate, employers should be doing everything they can to encourage applications from across the talent pool.
“As a business, we recommend employers use some of the free gender decoder tools available online and review adverts before posting. These tools score job adverts, checking the pronouns you use to ensure no bias. Reviewing and differentiating between the essentials and the desirables is key – research has shown men are more likely to apply for roles where they meet less of the criteria, as opposed to women. Writing a long ‘must-have list’ might not serve.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.