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HR failing to lead the way in gender inclusive job adverts

Despite being a women-dominated profession, the human resources industry is failing to set an example in attracting women to senior leadership roles due to job adverts containing masculine language and a lack of EDI and flexible working statements.

    Woman sat at a computer with a job search screen
    Masculine language in senior leader job adverts could be deterring women from applying

    Research by Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University, with Newcastle University Business School, examined the wording of more than 150 adverts for HR roles, including occurrences of agentic traits or ‘getting ahead’ (masculine) and communal behaviours or ‘getting along’ (feminine).

    Findings show that as the HR role salary or title seniority increases, the proportion of words categorised as masculine – such as leadership, deliver and decision - in the job adverts increases.

    In contrast, adverts for entry level and junior roles, traditionally filled in HR departments by women, used a broader range of feminine words like support, responsibility and trusted.

    This finding suggests that leadership roles move away from the supportive nature of the profession and towards a focus on business acumen and patriarchal leadership, potentially hindering women’s representation at senior levels.

    Maranda Ridgway
    Associate Professor Maranda Ridgway, Nottingham Business School

    Even in cases where senior‐level job adverts were expressed in neutral or feminine terms, there was limited or no mention of other factors that would encourage women applicants, such as EDI statements or promotion of work‐life balance.

    Such omissions could indicate that the ‘ideal’ candidate demonstrates male stereotypical characteristics, that is, not ‘burdened’ by family, and may reinforce existing stereotypes which deter women from applying to senior roles.

    Dr Maranda Ridgway, Associate Professor of People and Inclusion at Nottingham Business School, said: “Human resources is seen as the custodian and driver of equality and wellbeing practices, yet in senior-level job adverts these commitments appear tokenistic or ‘tick‐box’ rather than a reflection of the organisation's culture.

    “The profession should be leading by example. Instead, the gendered language we found in job adverts is likely contributing to women's underrepresentation in senior roles—even within a women‐dominated profession.

    “Urgent and careful attention needs to be paid to job adverts to reduce instances of hidden gender bias, and statements of equal opportunities and flexible working should be embedded in job adverts rather than mentioned cursorily.”

    The study also found that there is room for improvement in the representation of salary, with 8% of the adverts studied failing to detail the salary amount. With research showing that no explicit salary statement often results in women accepting lower wages, it is also recommended that specific wage details are included in all adverts.

    ‘Leading’ by example? Gendered language in Human Resource job adverts has been published in Human Resource Management Journal. Read the full paper online.

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      About Nottingham Business School at Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Business School (NBS) at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a leader in experiential learning and personalisation of business, management and economics education and research, combining academic excellence with positive impact on people, business and society.  NBS has an unrivalled level of engagement with business, public and voluntary organisations. With more than 8,500 students, NBS is also one of UK’s largest business schools.

      NBS is Quadruple+ Accredited by EQUIS, AACSB, EFMD BA for International Business, which are globally recognised hallmarks of excellence and quality for business education. NBS is also accredited by Small Business Charter, providing support and development for SMEs. The school is also a PRME Champion and held up as an exemplar and beacon by the United Nations Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME).

      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2021 for cultural heritage science research. It is the second time that NTU has been bestowed the honour of receiving a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for its research, the first being in 2015 for leading-edge research on the safety and security of global citizens.

      The Research Excellence Framework (2021) classed 83% of NTU’s research activity as either world-leading or internationally excellent. 86% of NTU’s research impact was assessed to be either world-leading or internationally excellent.

      NTU was awarded The Times and The Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2023 and ranked University of the Year in the Whatuni Student Choice Awards 2023. It was awarded Outstanding Support for Students 2020 (Times Higher Education Awards), University of the Year 2019 (Guardian University Awards, UK Social Mobility Awards), Modern University of the Year 2018 (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide) and University of the Year 2017 (Times Higher Education Awards).

      NTU is the 5th largest UK institution by student numbers, with approximately 40,000 students and more than 4,400 staff located across five campuses. It has an international student population of 7,000 and an NTU community representing over 160 countries.

      Since 2000, NTU has invested £570 million in tools, technology, buildings and facilities.

      NTU is in the UK’s top 10 for number of applications and ranked first for accepted offers (2021 UCAS UG acceptance data). It is also among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and was the first UK university to sign the Social Mobility Pledge.

      NTU is ranked the second most sustainable university in the world in the 2022 UI Green Metric University World Rankings (out of more than 900 participating universities).

    Published on 18 April 2024
    • Category: Press office; Research; Nottingham Business School