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How biased are UK job ads?

We used the Gender Bias Decoder to analyse almost 350,000 job ads and found over 2 million gendered words. Bias in job ads is only one part of a wider vicious cycle of gender bias holding back equality at work.

Discover more about the Gender Pay Trap

Totaljob ads analysed in October 2019

341,466
Breakdown of all ads
Male-biased35%
Female-biased45%
Unbiased20%

Most commonly used male-coded words

  • Lead*
  • Compet*
  • Active*
  • Analy*
  • Confident*

Most commonly used female-coded words

  • Support*
  • Respon*
  • Understand*
  • Depend*
  • Commit*

Most biased sectors

These sectors had highest proportion of gender-biased ads. Science and Social Care were the most biased job sectors in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Most male-biasedScience
Male-biased60%
Female-biased28%
Unbiased12%
Most female-biasedSocial Care
Male-biased7%
Female-biased88%
Unbiased5%
Most unbiasedSkilled Trades
Male-biased28%
Female-biased32%
Unbiased40%

Most biased levels of seniority

Across nearly all job levels, there were more male-biased ads than female-biased ads. These included Chief, Lead, Manager, Senior and Junior. There was only one exception, where there were more female-biased ads: Assistant. Similar results were seen in 2017 and 2018.

Most male-biasedLead
Male-biased71%
Female-biased21%
Unbiased8%
Most female-biasedAssistant
Male-biased20%
Female-biased67%
Unbiased14%

Resources

The Gender Pay TrapDiscover our full story about the vicious cycle of gender bias.
Why use neutral languageLanguage expert Stan Carey explains the importance of gender neutral language in the workplace.
Why job ads are key to diversityGender equality advocate Simone Roche offers solutions for a more diverse workplace.
Female-biased job ads have more female-coded words than male-coded. Male-biased job ads have more male-coded words than female-coded. Unbiased job ads have no gender-biased words, or an equal number of male-coded and female-coded words.

This tool is adapted from Kat Matfield's Gender Decoder for Job Ads based on: Danielle Gaucher, Justin Friesen, and Aaron C. Kay (2011), Evidence That Gendered Wording in Job Advertisements Exists and Sustains Gender Inequality (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, July 2011, Vol 101(1), p109-28).