Seeking a “Supportive” Leader: Gendered language in leadership job postings and women’s leadership identification

Abstract

Evidence suggests that women are underrepresented in leadership positions in Canada (MacDougall et al., 2021). While past research has shown that masculine wording reduces job attractiveness for women, few scholars have examined the effect of gendered language in a leadership context. First, we conducted a directed content analysis to assess the prevalence of gendered language in existing Canadian leadership job postings. This revealed that gendered language exists in job postings at expected levels, with masculine language occurring more frequently, especially in male-dominated industries. Second, we explored how gendered language impacts women’s intentions to apply for leadership positions and the potential roles of stereotype threat and perceived self-efficacy. Results indicated that, for women with lower self-efficacy, feminine language in job advertisements leads to greater application intentions through its effect on leadership identification. These findings suggest that more inclusive, feminine language in leadership job advertisements may encourage more women to apply