We love our libraries!

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