The choice of words in job advertisements significantly affects whether a woman or a man applies for the particular vacancy. That is the conclusion of a partial research by Technische Universität München within its three-year research program entitled Selection and Assessment of Leaders in Business and Academia which is known in Germany by the acronym AuBeFühr ("Auswahl Beurteilung von und Wirtschaft in Führungskräften und Wissenschaft").
The study, which included 260 respondents, showed the participants fictitious job advertisements e.g., internships for managerial positions. It turned out that if the ad contained a lot of words commonly associated with men, it was less attractive for women. Women, regardless of the fact that they had the appropriate qualifications, tended not to apply for jobs described using adjectives such as assertive, independent, aggressive or analytic. They were more interested in jobs described using expressions such as dedicated, responsible, conscientious and sociable. For men, there were no differences with regard to the choice of words.
“A carefully-formulated job posting is essential to get the best choice of personnel,” said Claudia Peus who lead the study. “In most cases, it doesn’t make sense to simply leave out all of the male-sounding phrases. But without a profile featuring at least balanced wording, organizations are robbing themselves of the chance of attracting good female applicants.”
-kk-