Gender biased language in job ads and occupational gender segregation

• Applicant: Dr. Andreas Damelang
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 504118784

In this project, we examine the extent to which gender biased language in job ads contributes to occupational gender segregation and, thus, to women’s disadvantages in the labor market. We define gender biased language as language that conveys stereotypically feminine or masculine characteristics or words commonly associated with one gender, such as ‘supportive’ and ‘self-confident’. Based on innovative big data, we are able to quantify the prevalence of gender biased language that employers in the German labor market use and relate it to the horizontal and vertical gender segregation of the labor market. We assume that the way employers phrase job ads influences the job search and recruiting behavior. On the supply side, our basic hypothesis is that women are less likely to apply if job ads use gender biased language. Regarding the demand side, we hypothesize that employers assess female applicants as less suited for the job if the language used in the job ad is gender biased.As database, we will predominantly use job ads published on the employment website of the Federal Employment Agency (BA Jobboerse), which is one of the largest online job portals in Germany. A key advantage over other online job portals is its widespread use across nearly all occupations and qualification levels, especially with regard to occupational gender segregation. This makes it possible to analyze the actual use of gender biased language for almost the entire German labor market. Moreover, we enrich the macro-level association between gender biased language and occupational gender segregation with detailed survey data on job vacancies and hiring processes to uncover the underlying micro-mechanisms. Finally, we focus on demand side mechanisms of occupational gender segregation. We use an experimental approach using a vignette study to analyze whether gender biased language makes gender discrimination in hiring more likely. We will interview employers with this instrument in order to reveal causally the effect that gender biased language has on employer’s assessment of female and male applicants across different occupational segments.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants