The Top 10 Masculine Biased Words Used in Job Descriptions (2024 Update)

Rob Kelly
Latest posts by Rob Kelly (see all)

What are the top masculine biased words used in job descriptions?

Knowing if you have masculine vs. feminine job descriptions is a hot topic these days. Most companies want to hire more women.

This week, I used Ongig’s Text Analyzer software (the tool for gender bias in job descriptions) to find out.

I had Text Analyzer review 48,246 random job descriptions from U.S.-based companies of all sizes.

Note: Text Analyzer has a proprietary masculine vocabulary library culled from social science and artificial intelligence research that flags masculine and feminine words like those shown below. 

lead-in_to_gender_neutral_replacement_words

 

Top 10 Masculine Words Used in Job Postings [2024 Update]

Things change, including the words we use. So we decided to do another review (this time with 1 million+ job postings) to find the 10 most used words with male bias in the last 12 months. We also added some gender neutral alternatives you might find work well in your job postings. Here’s the lineup:

  1. strong (able, proven, exceptional, sound, steady, excellent, solid)
  2. objectives (targets, goals, aims, intentions, purposes)
  3. lead/leads (drive(s), head(s), run(s), chief, manage(s), steer(s), guide(s))
  4. analysis (investigation, study, test, testing, research, data)
  5. decisions (choices, conclusions, judgments, moves, outcomes, steps, actions)
  6. analytical (data, data-backed, data-based, systematic, thorough, deductive, statistical, math, mathematical, diagnostic, methodical, critical)
  7. analyze (parse, examine, review, study, dissect, break down, take apart, research, survey, assessment, evaluate, investigate)
  8. leaders (managers, people, stars, pioneers, principals, mentors, top people)
  9. determine (establish, calculate, regulate, resolve, complete, create, learn, settle, figure out)
  10. independently (alone, exclusively, unaided, unsupervised)

You’ll notice some of the same “masculine wording” made the list again. Plus there are a few new masculine coded word choices in the lineup.

In late 2022, Ongig partnered with a global employment website to conduct new research around gendered language (and other biased words)…and the effect they have on application rates. The study revealed Ongig’s scoring is predictive of higher application rates across industries. Total apply starts increased by 13% and apply starts from female applicants boosted by 21%. This study proved the use of gender-sensitive language can help increase applies. 

And, in a pilot of Ongig’s Text Analyzer one firm wanted to take on gender imbalance in traditionally male-dominated industries like engineering and finance. After updating the use of gender-biased words in their job ads, they saw a 22% increase in female applicants. 

Note: We also did a breakdown of the 10 most used female-coded words if you want to see common words you can remove to create more gender neutral job ads.

And, here’s a list of 25 of the most-used exclusionary words. Check these out if you want more inclusive swaps when creating job adverts during your hiring process. They include acceptable replacements for non-binary people, people with disabilities, people of color, and many other underrepresented groups. 

Top 10 Masculine Words Used in Job Descriptions [2022 Update]

Things change, including the words we use. So we decided to do another review (this time with 400,000+ job descriptions) to find the 10 most used masculine words in 2022. We also added some gender-neutral alternative recommendations:

Here’s the lineup:

  1. strong (able, proven, exceptional, sound, steady, excellent, solid)
  2. lead (drive, head, run, chief, manage, steer, guide)
  3. independently (alone, exclusively, unaided, unsupervised)
  4. objectives (targets, goals, aims, intentions, purposes)
  5. tackles (takes on, embraces, handles, addresses, manages)
  6. assert (express, affirm, uphold, profess, state, put forward)
  7. analysis (investigation, study, test, testing, research, data)
  8. competence — includes competency
  9. decisions (choices, conclusions, judgments, moves, outcomes, steps, actions)
  10. driven (passionate, inspired, energized, motivated, spirited, guided, fueled, oriented)

You’ll notice some of the same “manly words” made the list again in 2022. Plus there are a few new ones in the lineup.

 

Top 10 Masculine Biased Words Used in Job Descriptions [in 2021]

  1. strong
  2. lead — includes leader(s)
  3. analysis — includes analyze and analytical
  4. individual(s)
  5. decisions(s)
  6. driven
  7. competitive
  8. expert
  9. objectives
  10. principles

Let me be very clear here. There are numerous women who are “strong” and great “leaders” and don’t need any softening of job description language. But, as a marketing cohort, there is data proving that women as a group will apply to jobs at a lower rate when certain masculine words are in the job posting (see the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology which published a research study called Evidence That Gendered Wording in Job Advertisements Exists and Sustains Gender Inequality by Danielle Gaucher, Justin Friesen, and Aaron C. Kay — Duke University and University of Waterloo study). Kat Matfield used this study to create a free tool, Gender Decoder, for words based on a specific gender. 

 

Gender-Neutral Alternatives for the Top 10 Masculine Words in Job Descriptions [2021]

Ongig’s Text Analyzer also includes gender-neutral synonym recommendations so I’ve included those in parentheses below.

  1. strong (able, proven, exceptional, sound, steady, excellent, solid)
  2. lead (head, top person, manager, run, head up, manage, steer, grow, pioneer)
  3. analysis (investigation, study, test, testing, research, data)
  4. individuals (people, team members, applicants)
  5. decisions (choices, conclusions, judgments, moves, outcomes, steps, actions)
  6. driven (passionate, inspired, energized, motivated, spirited, guided, fueled, oriented)
  7. competitive (attractive, fair, results-oriented, enthusiastic, comparative)
  8. expert (professional, pro, experienced, adept, skilled, trained)
  9. objectives (priorities, targets, goals, aims, intentions, purposes)
  10. principles (values, beliefs, rules, benefits, ideas, practices, morals, ideals, standards)

Try using the gender-neutral synonyms above for your job descriptions. That’ll go a long way towards eliminating masculine job descriptions/bias.

And if you want to automate this process, Ongig flags masculine words in real-time and gives you a pop-up with gender-neutral synonyms, so you can easily click and replace.

For more tips on writing job descriptions, check out our How to Write a Job Description — Best Practices & Examples.

 

Why I wrote this?

Ongig is on a mission to transform job descriptions. If you want to remove gender bias in your job descriptions, and are hiring at least 100 people per year, please reach out to us about Text Analyzer. We’re happy to show you other masculine job description examples. Just click the demo request button on this page or email us at friends@ongig.com. Thanks!

by in Writing Job Descriptions