Men aren't applying for jobs with 'feminine' descriptions, apparently
It’s almost been one hundred years since women were allowed to work in the ‘professions’ legally, but sometimes, it can feel like it was just yesterday we entered the workplace.
While women still struggle to break into male sectors such as tech and science, men also aren’t taking roles in what’s considered to be ‘women’s work’ – such as care and hospitality.
And according to a new study, typically ‘feminine’ words being used in job descriptions is enough to put guys off.
It was carried out by Textio, and involved analysing 50 million job listings for language that tends to provoke disproportionate responses from women or men.
Roles that had words such as “sympathetic”, “empathetic”, “families” or “caring” in their adverts – which jobs such as healthcare often do – had fewer male applicants.
So despite the fact that healthcare is a field that’s growing massively, many men aren’t applying for roles within it.
Some of the most feminine job postings included those for home health aides – a career that’s a whopping 89% female – nurse practitioners, physician assistants and genetic counsellor roles.
On the other side of the spectrum, fast-growing but particularly male-dominated jobs such as cartographers had key words such as ‘manage’ ‘superior’ and ‘forces’, which tended to appeal to men.
This tendency was so strong that when a single company – Expedia – used more masculine phrases in their job adverts, they could expect a man to go for the job.
Importantly, while ‘male’ qualities were required in both male and female-dominated jobs, traditionally male jobs didn’t require female qualities nearly as often.
Sadly, we still live in a world in which characteristics we consider to be positive – such as being ‘ambitious’ and ‘strong’ – we also consider to be male. And words we consider to be female, such as ‘caring’ and ‘sympathetic’ we consider to be negative or a sign of weakness.
And men do seem to fear taking on jobs that might emasculate them – ones that describe involving being ‘caring’ and ’empathetic’.
So go on guys, be brave – show the world you’re not afraid to be seen as a caring man, and you might just get a job at the end of it.
And perhaps, while we’re at it, those in more ‘feminine’ jobs should be described as ‘ambitious’ and ‘strong’ too.
Do you think people go for jobs with language that (supposedly) matches their gender? Tweet us at @YahooStyleUK.
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