“Targeted language is a way of limiting our language choices to make them more appealing to specific groups of people,” Emil explains. “If we take gender as an example, while it may seem logical that using more communal, or ‘feminine-coded’, language in a job advert might help you attract more women, it’s unlikely to work — and it could even backfire. This is because it actually ends up reinforcing stereotypes and bias.
“We’ve seen evidence of this in our own research — inclusive language is a far stronger predictor of men and women’s likelihood of applying to a role over communal language or agentic (masculine-coded) language.”
Targeted language can be conscious or unconscious, but in both cases, it can signal to your candidates that your organisation might not be an inclusive place to work.
In a job advert, language can communicate that when you’re looking for someone helpful and friendly, you really mean that you’re looking for a woman. Targeted language can be a red flag to a person on the autism spectrum that your software engineering job will consist of repetitive tasks based on a stereotypical understanding of their abilities, rather than a varied role with opportunities for growth.
When we use targeted language designed to ‘speak’ to one group of people above all others, it doesn’t mean we’re being more inclusive to that one group. Instead, it means we’re using language based on a stereotypical assumption of how that person wants to be spoken to. That means we’re already starting from a point of bias, rather than inclusion. And it goes far beyond just gender.
“A great example of this is if an organisation is trying to attract a younger workforce, or younger customer — so they change their language to appeal to that audience,” Emil explains. “It also goes the other way: If you’re trying to target older candidates, and you mention a slower pace, stability, and mentoring opportunities. In reality, both are going to come off insincere, and both are more likely to have the opposite effect to what you intended.”
