Gendering expert work and ideal candidacy in Finnish and Estonian job advertisements

Jatta Jännäri,Seppo Poutanen,Anne Kovalainen

doi:10.1108/gm-10-2017-0132

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the ways the textual materials of job advertisements do the gendering for prospective expert positions and create a space for ambiquity/non-ambiquity in the gender labelling of this expertise. Expert positions are almost always openly announced and are important to organizations because they often lead to higher managerial positions. By gendering the prospective positions, the job advertisements bring forth repertoires strengthening the gendering of work and gendered expert employee positions.Design/methodology/approachThis study draws on qualitative textual and visual data of open job advertisements for expert positions. The materials of the study are gathered from open job advertisements in two countries, i.e. Finland and Estonia with rather similar labour market structures in relation to gender positions but differing as regards their gender equality.FindingsThe analyses show that the gendering of expert work takes place in the job advertisements by rendering subtly gendered articulations, yet allowing for interpretative repertoires appear. The analysis reveals some differences in the formulations of the advertisements for expert jobs in the two countries. It also shows that in general the requirements for an ideal expert candidate are coated with superlatives that are gendered in rather stereotypical ways, and that the ideal candidates for highly expert jobs are extremely flexible and follows the ideal of an adaptable and plastic employee, willing to work their utmost. This paper contributes to the “doing gender” literature by adding an analysis of the textual gendering of ideal candidates for positions of expertise.Research limitations/implicationsThe research materials do not expose all the issues pertinent to questions of the ideal gendered candidate. For instance, questions of ethnicity in relation to the definition of the ideal candidate cannot be studied with the data used for this study. Being an exploratory study, the results do not aim for generalizable results concerning job advertisements for expert positions.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the “doing gender” and “gendering” literature by addressing the question of how and in what ways gender is defined and done for an expert positions prior the candidates are chosen to those jobs. It also offers new insights into the global construction of gendered expert jobs advertisements by addressing the topic with data from two countries. It further contributes to understanding the gendered shaping of expertise in the management literature.

Highlights

Open job advertisements are among the first tools for employers to contour the desired gender of prospective employees and at the same time, to promote their organizational brand
Job advertisements are one of the earliest components in the recruitment process, where aim is to attract potential candidates and persuade them to apply for the position
What kinds of explicit and/or tacit gendered imageries do the job advertisements work on, and to what extent do they vary when empirical materials from two, in principle different but broadly homologous cultural contexts, that is Estonia and Finland, are analysed? Our analysis extends to material from two countries but without any explicit goal to compare strict “cultural differences”

Summary

Introduction

Open job advertisements are among the first tools for employers to contour the desired gender of prospective employees and at the same time, to promote their organizational brand. Job advertisements are one of the earliest components in the recruitment process, where aim is to attract potential candidates and persuade them to apply for the position. Job advertisements commonly project an ideal, gendered candidacy and through that attract suitable candidates (McDowell, 2009; Askehave, 2010; Breaugh and Starke, 2000). The open recruitment process for expert positions means that prospective individuals are not pre-determined. Unlike targeted and closed searches carried out by consultants and recruiters, where the recruiters are the gate keepers (van den Brink and Benschop, 2014; Holgersson, 2013), open calls have to publicly articulate the idealized candidacy for the expert position. There is little analysis on how the candidacy for an expert position becomes gendered

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