Tech Industry ‘least sexist’ in UK employment market

A surprising number of job ads still use gender-biased language in the quest for perfect candidates, but some industries are bucking the trend. The technology industry was amongst the least biased of all UK sectors, new research by job search engine Adzuna has found.

The finance and travel sectors also proved themselves more immune to sexist language than many others.

The research was conducted last month and analysed a selection of traditionally masculine and feminine words* across more than one million live job ads on Adzuna, observing the number of adverts in which each word appeared. The search covered 28 sectors and all 12 regions of the UK, to identify the industries most likely to appeal to applicants of each gender.

The research found a high proportion of ‘male-dominated’ words* in adverts for sales and consultancy positions, with words identified as masculine by the study, like ‘superior’ and ‘challenge’ appearing more often than the likes of ‘considerate’ and ‘understanding’.

Adverts for roles in teaching, social work and nursing, on the other hand, were found to be worded in a way that may appeal more to female candidates, with an emphasis on ‘compassion’, ‘warmth’ and soft skills.

Traits that pay

Ironically, greedy candidates are indeed first in line to make top dollar, with average salaries citing this trait topping the salary charts with average pay of over £60,000. Employees with principles, on the other had, command far less, with advertised salaries of £38,000.

The most popular of the ‘masculine’ words included ‘lead’ (410,748), ‘active’ (219,468) and ‘competitive’ (202,188); but ‘outspoken’ (42) and ‘stubborn’ (37) employees were less in demand.

Of the feminine words, ‘support’ (519,187 mentions), ‘responsive’ (483,428) and ‘understand’(241,741) occurred most frequently in job descriptions on the Adzuna website. Conversely, 241 employers sought gentle staff, 132 felt being affectionate would boost chances of job success and just 6 prized modesty in applicants.

Female candidates should cast their eyes East

Northern Ireland and London saw the largest concentration of job adverts geared towards male candidates.

Recruiters in the east of the country, on the other hand (including the North East, East and South Eastern regions) were more likely to appeal to female candidates, based on the language used in job ads in these areas.

Gender divide reopens at the top

Even for the sectors that appeal equally to both men and women, the research highlighted a growing gender divide as the roles became more senior and the salaries rise. In the tech industry, senior data scientists and data architect roles both proved exceptions to the neutral language used elsewhere in the sector.

Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, commented: “While the tech industry once again seems to be making great strides and disrupting traditional recruitment methods, some exceptions still exist. In the emerging world of data science. Our research showed both data scientist and data architect roles remain more appealing for the male of the species.

”Unconscious bias may lead to accidental discrimination, but there is no excuse in 2017.  It’s time for employers to head back to the drawing board and redesign their recruitment basics in order to keep up with the times!

”Recent data from the ONS showed a 19% pay gap persists between male employees and their female counterparts. Despite improvements, it is predicted this gap will not close for at least another 70 years. We need to do better.”

Data tables:

Table 1: Top 5 most masculine job ad sectors

Sector

Average UK Salary

Currently available roles

% of masculine words

1. Sales

£29,687

54,018

58.8%

2. Consultancy

£37,596

19.825

56.9%

3. PR, Advertising, and Marketing

£34,230

25,525

56.5%

4. Property

£33,465

11,135

55.3%

5. Retail

£25,361

38,643

53.8%

Table 2: Top 5 most feminine job ad sectors

Sector

Average UK Salary

Currently available roles

% of feminine words

1. Teaching

£26,594

51,055

64.7%

2. Social Work

£27,741

18,750

61.9%

3. Charity and Voluntary

£27,197

9,302

61.2%

4. Healthcare and Nursing

£33,623

107,423

59.3%

5. Admin

£21,513

46,936

57.8%

Table 3: Masculine words – average salaries and frequency

Masculine word

Average Advertised Salary

Current Vacancies

Greedy

£62,814

12

Heirachy

£42,060

368

Intellect

£46.266

581

Analyse

£47,002

4,865

Hostile

£46,381

151

Dominant

£42,500

1

Analysis

£41,339

74,320

Headstrong

£41,283

15

Principle

£38,430

30,537

Objective

£37,829

67,433

Self-sufficient/sufficiency

£37,533

1,711

Decision

£36,588

65,090

Superior

£36,494

6,570

Lead

£36,491

410,748

Impulsive

£36,098

155

Self-reliance

£35,736

200

Opinion

£34,395

7,049

Logic

£34,807

12,157

Athlete

£34,395

429

Challenge/Challenging

£34,072

146,138

Independent/Independence

£33,768

14

Persist

£33,756

2,400

Active

£33,506

219,468

Boast

£33,487

11,606

Force

£33,350

13,458

Decide

£33,294

5,832

Ambitious

£33,292

70,039

Compete

£32,592

61,419

Determine

£32,186

38,229

Reckless

£32,123

75

Assert

£32,105

4,395

Ambition

£31,721

28,302

Competitiv

£31,534

202,188

Individual

£30,749

226,917

Masculine

£30,270

32

Confident

£30,233

150,185

Courage

£30,240

1,497

Self-confiden

£29,864

6,642

Outspoken

£29,660

37

Stubborn

£28,147

42

Adventurous

£27,142

3,152

Table 4: Feminine words – average salaries and frequency

Feminine word

Average Advertised Salary

Current Vacancies

Tender

£44,013

18,938

Submissive

£40,506

14,041

Flatterable

£38,715

108

Connect

£36,822

33,393

Understand

£35,673

241,741

Considerate

£35,664

35,258

Cooperate

£35,310

6.699

Trust

£35,151

49,600

Yield

£34,564

1,949

Responsive

£33,833

483,428

Interpersonal

£33,648

58,938

Together

£32,897

50,295

Affectionate

£32,733

132

Support

£32,130

519,187

Dependable

£31,350

5.051

Sensitive

£31,254

181,228

Nuture/nuturing

£30,578

20,417

Commit

£30,286

5,727

 

 

 

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Published by

davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer