Women With These Types Of Words On Their Resumes Are Less Likely To Be Hired, According To Study
Despite how much progress we've made as a society, women are still being judged on frivolity instead of competence.
Zivica Kerkez | Shutterstock In many corporate spaces, women have to fight against hurdles and obstacles to be noticed, especially compared to their male colleagues.
Turns out, the lack of consideration extends to the job search, as well. A study found that some common buzzwords women include on their resumes could be holding them back from getting hired.
A study found that women who use communal language on their resumes are less likely to be hired.
A myriad of social science research has suggested that the language we use at work highlights gendered expectations that may not always be obvious to employers and employees.
Some of these gendered expectations and language play a role in the kinds of people who end up getting hired and how people are assessed and promoted.
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Gender researchers sometimes discuss the differences between agentic and communal language and behaviors. To be agentic is to be confident and decisive; to be communal is to be warm and helpful.
In many areas of the world, men are considered to be agentic, while women are considered communal.
Erin Oldford, an assistant professor, and her colleague John Fiset have found that male-coded language (words like "dominant" and "competitive") factor heavily in finance industry job postings, resulting in a male dominated field. At the same time, women are more likely to apply for jobs where terms like "interpersonal" and "understand" are in the postings.
While in most job interviews, candidates need to generally demonstrate a level of competence that reflects the words used on their resume, when the candidate is a woman, hiring decisions are more likely to be a factor in their sociability ("friendly") and morality ("trustworthy"), compared to male candidates.
A recent study published in the Journal of Business and Psychology found that women use more communal language than men when writing about themselves on their resumes. Furthermore, communal language use can negatively impact the perceived ability of women candidates applying to prototypically male-dominated jobs.
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Women face an astonishing amount of gender bias and discrimination during the hiring process and even after getting the job.
In a survey from The Muse and RecruitmentMarketing.com, about 42% of women said they’ve encountered gender-biased or inappropriate questions during a job interview, and 41% said they’ve felt discriminated against during a job interview due to gender. The hurdles don't just stop once a woman is hired, especially in regard to the types of words associated with their performances.
A study of military performance evaluations showed that more negative characteristics were recorded for women overall.
In terms of negative feedback, "irresponsible" was more often applied to men, whereas judgmental and gender-coded terms like "frivolous" and "temperamental" were more likely to be mentioned for women.
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"We have made some progress as a society, but there is significant room to grow with gender pay equity, inclusive leadership, female-friendly benefits, and placing value on a woman’s voice in our workplaces," Heather Tenuto, CEO of The Muse Group, said in a statement.
On top of everything else that women have to balance in the workplace, they now have to take into account the types of words they're using on their resumes and in interviews because there's already a bias attached to them.
It's definitely exhausting having to be aware of all of the obstacles that are in our way when it comes to being a professional. Why does a woman's friendliness and morality have to be taken into account in comparison to a man?
Women should be considered for a role and hired based on their work ethic, performance, skills, and competence, just as men seem to be.
It's not on women to change because this isn't our problem to fix. It's on companies to shift their perceptions and appropriately evaluate all prospective candidates regardless of their gender.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.