This article looks at how the gender divide is reflected in the wording of vacancies by analysing offers for drivers (mostly men) and middle managers (mostly women) in the logistics sector of Lithuania.
A list of stereotypically feminine and masculine words relevant to our corpus was compiled based on previous studies and adapted to our study. This was correlated with 126 job postings found during a 5-month period thanks to a Python programme especially developed to find patterns, connections and similarities.
We found significant differences in the wording of adverts for predominantly men's and women's positions, and a correlation of certain words with a specific gender, which we have called red flags.
Although our study focuses on a local sector, we believe that its findings can be transposable to other countries and industries. Nevertheless, studies that look at the actual gender of both applicants and selected candidates are necessary to confirm the findings. Also, corpus studies can deepen our understanding of qualitative aspects of gendered wording.
We study gender wording in recruitment in the logistics sector, in two positions that show a reverse gender divide. Sector-specific lists of feminine and masculine words have been compiled, and we have created an open-access customisable gender checker website that can be used by employers and researchers.
