Sexism in syntax: language and its relationship with female leadership

Despite a global trend towards more equal gender representation, not every country has improved at the same pace or to the same level. This study investigates language as a potential tool for better understanding the differences between countries regarding the presence of female managers. By using language as a tool, I arrive at two primary results: (i) pronoun drop is significantly and inversely associated with the presence of female managers, but gendered language structures have little association, and (ii) a gender intensity index can produce misleading results. These results suggest that language structures, such as pronoun drop, which are associated with collectivism, may also be associated with lower levels of female leadership in businesses. However, those language structures that directly emphasize sex do not make that much of a difference.