How to avoid gender bias in your job descriptions

Unconscious bias in job descriptions could mean your organization is losing out on top talent and furthering the gender imbalance in certain roles and departments. Even if subconscious, these biases can still have a compound impact that leads to a “snowball effect,” says Farah Mahesri, co-founder of Quantum Impact, an advocacy and education organization promoting gender and diversity equity in the global development sector. Much like a snowball rolling down a hill and getting bigger as it goes, small amounts of bias applied over time adds up and aggravates gender disparity at top levels. If you start with a team that is made up of slightly more women — 52 percent women versus 48 percent men — a 1 percent bias in favour of men over an eight-year period means you will end up with a team that is 65 percent male, explains Mahesri. Workplace bias can be subtle and seemingly non harmful, such as women always getting the coffee at the start of meeting but therefore missing out on the introductions and the chance to speak first. The problem, however, can actually start with job descriptions which reinforce gender stereotypes and tip the scales in favor of male applicants. Over the past year, Quantum Impact has been taking a closer look at diversity and inclusion issues across the global and social impact sector. Based on their research and her own experience working in recruitment, Mahesri shares tips for avoiding gender bias in your job descriptions. Use gender neutral words Certain characteristics are subconsciously more closely associated with men or women says Mahesri — many HR and operational-type roles use language that people associate with women and so most of these roles are then filled by women. Several studies focused on nonprofits in the United States have also shown that around 75 percent of the entry-level workforce is female and that’s partly because when it comes to entry-level positions — coordinators, assistants, and associates — employers want people who are attention-detailed, team players, and loyal, and these tends to be characteristics that depict women, she explains. On the other hand, terms such as ambitious, self-starter, and entrepreneurial are all more likely to be associated with men, and job ads for senior-level or field-based positions often include more of these gendered terms. Avoid terms such as independent, decisive, and strong-leadership skills in your jobs ads advises Mahesri and instead use neutral phrases such as “excellent skills.” Get a second opinion There are several online platforms and tools out there which are helping tackle gender inequality in the workplace, starting with the recruitment process. Textio is an augmented writing platform designed to improve written content, such as job postings, and fill vacancies with more qualified and diverse candidates. Using an extensive database, the platform works in real time to calculate different variations of the language you input, highlight key phrases or words, and propose alternatives explains Kieran Snyder, co-founder and chief executive officer. “Textio predicts how different people will respond to written content, and shows writers exactly why,” says Snyder. “It also imagines the things that haven’t been written but could have been. It can tell which one of those alternate phrases will create the highest performing version of a job post,” she adds. Recruiters should not rely solely on their intuition, which can be impacted by subconscious bias, and should be aware that the words they use can turn someone off a job says Snyder. Textio’s Gender Tone Meter aims to highlight gender-coded words which could discourage female applicants and distort the talent pool in favor of men. There are “words and phrases that are statistically likely to create an imbalance between the number of men and women who are inspired to respond to your job ad,” she explains. Textio has actually found that gender-neutral job posts fill approximately three weeks faster than average. Rethink the job requirements Whether reposting an old job ad or writing a new one, review the required criteria and consider whether something really is essential or would just be “nice to have” says Mahesri. Having worked in recruitment for many years, Mahesri knows that it is standard practice to set the bar high in order to weed out those applicants that are not a good fit. Unfortunately a “confidence gap” means that this impacts women more than men — research across different sectors has shown that men will apply for a job if they meet just 60 percent of the criteria whereas women won’t apply unless they feel they meet all the requirements she explains. “Really think about the job description and write the criteria exactly as the position requires,” says Mahesri. Reconsider the nonessential criteria and “really think about whether you are putting them in because you need them or because it’s the trend, or the last job had it.” While it is the norm in global development to rely on years of experience to assess a candidate's initial suitability for a role, consider different ways to convey what you are looking for. Inclusion of very specific requirements, for example, 15 years experience with the United States Agency for International Development could discourage women from applying because they fall just short of this criteria even if they still have the necessary donor experience and could do that job. This is also something to remember when listing higher educational requirements says Mahesri — do you really need someone with a MBA or a Juris Doctor degree, both typically male-dominated fields, or are you just looking for someone with a graduate degree? While these are systemic issues that can’t be fixed by one person, as individuals, we do have a role to play says Mahesri and we should “encourage the women that we’re mentoring and working with to be a little bit more confident in their application.” Make diversity and inclusion a priority An organization’s leadership team sets the tone for diversity and inclusion — both by the values they reflect and in the policies and priorities they put in place. “Leadership teams are the ones that set strategy, set finances, decide if we’re going to invest in training for HR teams on how to do better recruitment,” says Mahesri — therefore “it is really important to have that focus on whether our leadership teams have gender balance and balance of people of color.” And while many organizations may have women’s empowerment or gender equality in their mission statement, this is not always reflected in their leadership team. “Quantum Impact’s original research shows that 2 out of 3 international development organizations do not have gender balance leadership teams,” says Mahesri. “In fact 1 out of 5 organizations do not have any women serving on their leadership teams,” she adds. Employers can, however, make small changes to strengthen their diversity and inclusion brand and, as a result, attract a more diverse pool of candidates. Make sure your website reflects your employer values and provides statistics to demonstrate this. Highlight roles which are dedicated to diversity and inclusion such as your diversity and inclusion coordinator, and share information on workplace initiatives like monthly lunches which facilitate discussions on these issues, says Mahesri. Underrepresented groups notice these things on a potential employers website she adds, and are more likely to apply when they see that an organization is making an effort and is open to these conversations. For resource-strapped organizations, it can be as simple as starting these conversations and being open to staff ideas.This is a huge indicator of your commitment to women’s empowerment and inclusion, and shows that you live by your values, advises Mahesri.