3 ways to make your job adverts gender inclusive

Unconscious gender bias in job adverts could mean you miss out on the ideal candidate for your role. Follow these top tips to ensure your recruitment campaign is inclusive…

The number of women who believe employers are biased in favour of male applicants is increasing.1 PWC found that over one fifth of women have experienced gender discrimination during the recruitment process.2 This can be particularly detrimental for employers in sectors where women are already underrepresented, as jobseekers may lose confidence and abandon their application based on this presumption.

Often, vacancy listings contain elements of unconscious bias that can affect someone's decision to apply for a role. However, you can avoid this by taking a few simple steps. Use this guide to help you create gender inclusive job adverts.

1. Simplify your criteria

Any business hiring for a role wants to ensure potential candidates are a suitable fit. Presenting an exhaustive list of the requirements and skills needed for the job may seem like an appropriate way to ensure jobseekers thoroughly understand your expectations. But this approach can also have a negative impact.

A Hewlett Packard report found that men will apply for a job if they meet 60% of qualifications, whereas women will apply only if they meet 100% of them - meaning an extensive list of requirements could contribute to a fall in female applicants.3 This may be due a lack of confidence, or the belief that the whole list is essential criteria.4

This leads to employers missing out on talent that would have otherwise thrived in the workplace with a little training and guidance - especially important as, in any case, graduates do not leave university with all the skills needed by employers and some workplace training is needed.

Limiting your criteria to the key requirements can go a long way to avoid a drop in female interest in the role. Emphasising certain points as 'desirable but not vital' and promoting the importance of training and development within your organisation will also widen the pool of candidates.

2. Publicise your values

A good way to attract a diverse range of applicants is to state your commitment to fostering an inclusive and dynamic working environment. Backing this up with evidence to emphasise how your organisation promotes this kind of culture will make individuals feel more welcome and supported.5

Detailing the diversity of your leadership team, highlighting role models within your company and sharing any measures you've taken to increase diversity could be advantageous.6 This is particularly important for females who are more likely to look for an honest description of the workplace prior to applying for a position.7

3. Check your vocabulary

Research by Textio has shown that the language used in job listings can influence a person's decision to apply. It found that the average advert featured twice the number of phrases with a masculine tone, thus drawing in more male applicants.8

For example, words such as active, competitive, dominate, decisive, fearless and objective are often considered to be masculine. Words like community, dependable, responsible, committed, empathetic and supportive are regarded as more feminine.9

An advertisement for a manager with 'world class skills' could put off females who are less likely to boast about their attributes in this kind of manner.10 In contrast, a position for a primary school teacher who can 'work in a supportive and collaborative environment' may distance male candidates.11

To avoid any unconscious bias it is wise to review the vocabulary used and adjust it where appropriate. This can be tricky, but there are tools - such as Gender Decoder - that can be used to scan adverts for gender bias to help with the process. Using a combination of both feminine and masculine orientated words creates the image of an inclusive working environment.12

While it may be tempting to entice jobseekers with catchy and memorable job titles such as 'ninja', 'superstar' and 'guru' they may have the opposite effect and deter individuals who believe they don't fit with these images.13 Plain and simple titles may not be as exciting, but they ensure you are not limiting your audience.

A study by researchers in Belgium also found women are more likely to engage with an advert if the personality requirements are phrased in a task directed way (you always remain calm under pressure) as opposed to a trait (you are calm/not nervous). Such preference is linked to the way females are typically stereotyped.14

Notes

1. Winning the fight for female talent: how to gain the diversity edge through inclusive recruitment, PWC, 2017.
2. Ibid.
3. Why women don't apply for jobs unless they're 100% qualified, Harvard Business Review, 2014.
4. Ibid.
5. 10 ways to remove gender bias from job descriptions, Glassdoor, 2017.
6. Winning the fight for female talent: how to gain the diversity edge through inclusive recruitment, PWC, 2017.
7. Ibid.  
8. The language in job adverts that deters female applicants, Independent, 2018.
9. Ibid.
10. 10 ways to remove gender bias from job descriptions, Glassdoor, 2017.
11. How to take gender bias out of your job ads, Forbes, 2016.  
12. The language in job adverts that deters female applicant, Independent, 2018.
13. 10 ways to remove gender bias from job descriptions, Glassdoor, 2017.
14. Job ads should be worded wisely to encourage women to apply, Springer, 2018.

Written by

Laura Greaves

Information analyst

Prospects