Read a UK recruitment advert and a teaching assistant advert back to back and you notice it before you finish either. They are written in different languages. One wants someone driven, competitive and ambitious. The other wants someone supportive, caring and committed. We measured this across more than 5,000 live UK adverts, and the split is not subtle.
We took the lexicon of masculine-coded and feminine-coded words from the research on gendered job wording, counted both sets in every advert, and classed each advert by whichever set it leaned on. The pattern maps almost exactly onto the jobs men and women already do.
The most masculine-coded sectors
Recruitment led, with 56% of adverts leaning masculine against 23% feminine. Then plumbing (47% to 16%), retail (46% to 15%) and HGV driving (41% to 10%). These adverts reach for driven, competitive, confident, assertive and ambitious.
The most feminine-coded sectors
The caring and classroom roles sat hard at the other end. Teaching assistant adverts came out 85% feminine-leaning and 5% masculine. Teaching was 79% to 5%, office administration 72% to 9%, receptionists 64% to 16% and care workers 64% to 24%. Two that surprise people: doctors came out 65% feminine-leaning and human resources roles 61%. These adverts reach for supportive, caring, committed, understanding and dependable.
In the middle sat the roles you would expect to be mixed. Software, marketing and accountancy came out close to even.
Why the wording matters
This is not a point about which words are nicer. It is a point about who applies. The research on gendered wording, most often credited to a 2011 study by Danielle Gaucher and colleagues, found that adverts loaded with masculine-coded language were rated less appealing by women, and signalled to them that they would not belong. The effect runs the other way too. Heavily feminine-coded adverts can put men off. The wording does not change who could do the job. It changes who puts themselves forward for it.
Lay that over the data and the problem is clear. The sectors that already struggle to attract women, the trades and logistics, are writing the adverts most likely to deter them. The sectors that struggle to attract men, care and primary education, are writing the adverts most likely to deter them. The language quietly reinforces the segregation that most of these sectors say they want to break.
The honest caveat
Two things this does not say. It does not read intent. The wording is inherited, copied from the last advert for the same role. And some coding reflects the genuine nature of the work: a care advert leans on caring because the job is caring, and that is not a fault. The useful point is narrower. Where the coded words are decorative rather than load-bearing, where driven and ambitious are doing no real work in a plumbing advert, they can be swapped for a plain description of the task without losing anything, and the pool of applicants widens.
What it means for your CV
If you are answering one of these adverts, mirror its language where it is honest to, but never lead with the coded adjective. A recruiter scores what you did and the result, not whether you described yourself as driven or supportive. Name the task and the outcome. Paste the advert into our free job description analyser to pull the exact words it uses, then tailor your CV free to mirror them into your real experience.
Method
We read more than 5,000 live UK job adverts across 24 occupations, collected from Find a Job and the public boards that feed it. For each advert we counted masculine-coded and feminine-coded word stems from the published gender-decoder lexicon, then classed the advert by whichever set was larger. Adverts with an equal count were recorded as neutral. The dataset is published under a Creative Commons licence and tagged with schema.org/Dataset.
Frequently asked questions
What does gender-coded language mean in a job advert?▾
Gender-coded language is wording that research has linked to a perceived gender. Masculine-coded words include driven, competitive, ambitious, assertive and confident. Feminine-coded words include supportive, caring, committed, nurturing and dependable. The words do not describe a gender requirement, but they can signal who is expected to apply.
Which UK jobs have the most gender-coded adverts?▾
In our sample of more than 5,000 adverts, recruitment (56% masculine-leaning), plumbing (47%), retail (46%) and HGV driving (41%) used the most masculine-coded language. Teaching assistant (85% feminine-leaning), teaching (79%), office administration (72%), doctors (65%) and care work (64%) used the most feminine-coded language.
Does gender-coded wording actually affect who applies?▾
Yes, according to the research on it. A 2011 study by Danielle Gaucher and colleagues found that masculine-coded adverts were rated less appealing by women and signalled they would not belong in the role. The effect can run the other way too, with heavily feminine-coded adverts deterring men. The wording changes who puts themselves forward, not who can do the job.
How do I make a job advert more gender-neutral?▾
Highlight every personality adjective and ask whether it describes the work or just decorates it. Swap decorative coded words (driven, dynamic, nurturing) for plain descriptions of the actual task. Where some personality language is needed, balance it rather than stacking five masculine-coded or five feminine-coded words in a row.
Does gender-coded wording affect how I should write my CV?▾
Mirror the language of the specific advert you are answering, but lead with concrete evidence rather than coded adjectives. A recruiter scores what you did and the outcome, not whether you called yourself driven or supportive. Name the task and the result, in the advert's own words where it is honest to do so.