Language in job advertisements and the reproduction of labor force gender and racial segregation
Job advertisements (ads) represent the first point of contact between employers and job seekers. By signaling characteristics expected of an ideal candidate, job ads "gatekeep" the labor force and configure its composition. Meanwhile, labor force composition can also shape the wording of job ads. This study develops a multidimensional inventory of gender and EDI (equality, diversity, inclusion) language in job ads. Applying this inventory, it adopts an instrumental-variable approach to disentangle the reciprocal relationships between gender/EDI language in job ads and labor force gender/racial composition. Drawing on the analysis of 28.6 million job ads in the United Kingdom in combination with labor force statistics between 2018 and 2023, the findings reveal three distinct mechanisms through which the bidirectional interplay between language in job ads and labor force composition (re)produces or disrupts labor force gender/racial segregation. They highlight both the benefits and limitations of intervening in the language used in job ads to help reduce labor force gender/racial segregation.
Authors
- Bei Jiang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0033-839X)
- Jabir Alshehabi Al-Ani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0553-2538)
- Hongsheng Dai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1734-2026)
- Nicole Denier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8905-1899)
- Shenggang Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3528-4800)
- Karen D. Hughes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8581-350X)
- Yang Hu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2027-8491)
- Bran Knowles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2554-1896)
- Alla Konnikov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3448-4969)
- Enze Shi
- Linglong Kong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3011-9216)
- Irina Rets (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8832-0962)
- Monideepa Tarafdar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2831-1364)
- Lei Ding (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9749-6641)
- Dengdeng Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0041-4727)
Institutions
- York St John University (GB)
- Concordia University of Edmonton (CA)
- University of Alberta (CA)
- The Open University (GB)
- University of Massachusetts Amherst (US)
- University of Warwick (GB)
- The University of Texas at San Antonio (US)
- Lancaster University (GB)
- Newcastle University (GB)
- Babson College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- PNAS Nexus
- Published
- 2024-11-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae526
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Names, Identity, and Discrimination Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.66
Funders
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
- Economic and Social Research Council