Gender-coded language.
Do adverts lean on masculine- or feminine-coded words?
17.7% of UK employers' job adverts lean masculine in their wording (avg 4.8 masculine vs 9.1 feminine-coded words; n=6,957 employers).
Sample: 6,957 employers · source: UK employers' careers pages · data to 18 October 2026
By job function
| Function | Figure | Sample (employers) | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Science & Research | 38.1% | 114 | Science & Research: 38.1% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=114 employers). |
| Management & Executive | 30.3% | 596 | Management & Executive: 30.3% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=596 employers). |
| Marketing | 29.9% | 491 | Marketing: 29.9% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=491 employers). |
| Sales | 25.4% | 1,085 | Sales: 25.4% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=1,085 employers). |
| IT & Software | 22.2% | 897 | IT & Software: 22.2% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=897 employers). |
| Finance & Accounting | 20.3% | 543 | Finance & Accounting: 20.3% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=543 employers). |
| Engineering | 19.6% | 1,224 | Engineering: 19.6% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=1,224 employers). |
| Operations & Logistics | 18.6% | 878 | Operations & Logistics: 18.6% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=878 employers). |
| Other | 18.6% | 1,072 | Other: 18.6% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=1,072 employers). |
| Manufacturing & Production | 18.5% | 275 | Manufacturing & Production: 18.5% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=275 employers). |
| Creative & Design | 17% | 430 | Creative & Design: 17% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=430 employers). |
| Construction & Trades | 16.2% | 647 | Construction & Trades: 16.2% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=647 employers). |
| Retail | 15.2% | 148 | Retail: 15.2% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=148 employers). |
| Hospitality & Catering | 13.8% | 416 | Hospitality & Catering: 13.8% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=416 employers). |
| HR | 13.4% | 276 | HR: 13.4% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=276 employers). |
| Legal | 12.9% | 296 | Legal: 12.9% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=296 employers). |
| Healthcare & Care | 10.4% | 1,051 | Healthcare & Care: 10.4% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=1,051 employers). |
| Education | 10.3% | 538 | Education: 10.3% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=538 employers). |
| Customer Service | 8.5% | 380 | Customer Service: 8.5% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=380 employers). |
| Admin & Office | 8.1% | 521 | Admin & Office: 8.1% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=521 employers). |
By sector
| Sector | Figure | Sample (employers) | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information & communication | 24.5% | 810 | Information & communication: 24.5% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=810 employers). |
| Finance & insurance | 21.2% | 277 | Finance & insurance: 21.2% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=277 employers). |
| Wholesale & retail | 21% | 449 | Wholesale & retail: 21% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=449 employers). |
| Professional, scientific & technical | 20.9% | 918 | Professional, scientific & technical: 20.9% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=918 employers). |
| Administrative & support services | 20.8% | 403 | Administrative & support services: 20.8% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=403 employers). |
| Water, sewerage & waste | 20.4% | 55 | Water, sewerage & waste: 20.4% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=55 employers). |
| Energy supply | 19.9% | 49 | Energy supply: 19.9% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=49 employers). |
| Real estate | 19.2% | 190 | Real estate: 19.2% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=190 employers). |
| Public administration & defence | 19% | 52 | Public administration & defence: 19% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=52 employers). |
| Manufacturing | 18.8% | 595 | Manufacturing: 18.8% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=595 employers). |
| Transport & storage | 18.7% | 231 | Transport & storage: 18.7% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=231 employers). |
| Arts, entertainment & recreation | 18.3% | 220 | Arts, entertainment & recreation: 18.3% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=220 employers). |
| Other services | 16.4% | 423 | Other services: 16.4% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=423 employers). |
| Construction | 16% | 609 | Construction: 16% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=609 employers). |
| Hospitality & food service | 14.1% | 340 | Hospitality & food service: 14.1% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=340 employers). |
| Agriculture, forestry & fishing | 13.7% | 65 | Agriculture, forestry & fishing: 13.7% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=65 employers). |
| Health & social care | 9.3% | 811 | Health & social care: 9.3% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=811 employers). |
| Education | 8.1% | 395 | Education: 8.1% of employers' adverts lean masculine-coded (n=395 employers). |
How this is measured
Gaucher, Friesen & Kay (2011) word lists (gender-decoder stems). value = % of adverts with more masculine- than feminine-coded words; value_json has the average counts. Scored on the ATS job description when the page carries structured job data; otherwise on the whole page text, which also includes navigation and site-wide boilerplate (so those adverts carry some employer-level wording). Employer-weighted: each employer's share of its own adverts is computed, then averaged across employers, so every employer counts once however many adverts it posts; n = employers (min n applies to employers), value_json.adverts = adverts behind them. The average counts are means of per-employer means. Adverts: job pages whose linked title the title classifier settled as a real job (an "Apprenticeships", "Early Careers" or "Graduate programme" page is not an advert); pages whose title is not classified yet are left out, so coverage grows as titles are classified. Adverts whose own stated posted / closing date is more than 180 days old are stale and left out.
Cite this
Free to quote with a credit and a link.
ProdReady Recruitment (2026). Gender-coded language. Data to 18 October 2026. https://ProdReadyRecruitment.com/research/gendered_language
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