Gender bias in the language used in Egyptian online job recruitment

Abstract

Purpose: Many languages with grammatical gender are said to have a “gender neutral” use of the masculine form. The aim of this article is to assess the language used in Egyptian online recruitment through an evaluation of the linguistic features in job advertisements. Design/methodology/approach: This article evaluates the use of gender-biased language in Egyptian online recruitment by conducting a content analysis of corpus of job advertisements. Jobs were coded and analysed based on target gender, grammatical gendering, occupational classification and main economic activity. Findings: Occupational gender expectations are embedded in grammatical gender choices. Specifically, senior and high-paid positions are more likely to be advertised in the masculine, while other secretarial, administrative and supporting positions are more likely to be advertised in the feminine. Jobs exclusively targeting women are also less likely to include managerial or professional roles compared to jobs targeting men or women, and this relationship is found to be statistically significant. Implications: Linguistic choices are used to reinforce and perpetuate existing gender stereotypes, occupational expectations and divisions (i.e. men as doctors and women as nurses). Further, the results help identify a national and organisational gap in the absence of laws and guidance governing discriminatory online recruitment practices. Originality: This is the first systematic investigation into the language used in recruitment in Arabic and in Egypt, a largely understudied context and language.