No evidence that using gender inclusive language alone helps women in the workplace, study shows
The experts have urged companies to use gender inclusive language as part of a toolbox of other – proven - measures to boost diversity and help to close gender gaps at the workplace
The use of gender inclusive language may not in itself help women in the workplace, a new study shows.
Researchers could not find its use in English and German had an impact on the short-term display of crucial traits to climb the career ladder – how willing people are to be a leader or how willing they are to compete.
The experts have urged companies to use gender inclusive language as part of a toolbox of other – proven – measures to boost diversity and help to close gender gaps at the workplace.
The use of gender-inclusive language – such as chairperson or firefighter – is often considered an instrument for promoting inclusion, yet little is known about its effects on relevant economic behaviours and on gender gaps in the labour market.
Researchers tested how competitive participants were, and how willing they were to be a leader– with some participants receiving instructions in masculine language and others in gender-inclusive language, using either male and female forms or the plural “they” when referring to individual participants.
The short-term impact of gender inclusive language on competitiveness and leadership was tested in two different languages – English and German. People who took part in the experiment behaved similarly, even while receiving different language treatments. Gender inclusive language did not seem to affect the behaviour of women and men in these large samples. This goes against the widespread view that using gender-inclusive language has immediate impacts on behaviour in the workplace.
The study was carried out by Loukas Balafoutas, Helena Fornwagner, Emily Hauser and Oliver Hauser, from the University of Exeter.
Dr Fornwagner said: “We know resources in workplaces are scarce, and employers want to be supportive and to promote equality. Our research can help companies to assign their limited resources in a more informed way. We know that supportive structures and appropriate wages will have a meaningful impact to close gender gaps, whereas gender-inclusive language is unlikely to move the needle on its own. Thus, we urge employers to use gender inclusive language only as part of a big toolbox of measures to promote equality and inclusion.”
Researchers collected a total of observations from 1,100 in the UK and 1,105 in Austria from June 2022 to February 2023. Participants, who were recruited online, had to make a choice of how they wanted to get paid to access their competitiveness. They also took part in a group task to test their willingness to be a leader. All received the exact same information but were randomly exposed to gender-inclusive language or not via the instructions.
Dr Fornwagner said: “We cannot rule out the possibility that gender inclusive language changes labour market-relevant behaviour or reduces stereotypes and discrimination if individuals are exposed to it over a long period of time. There may be long-run effects, related to the role of language in normative development and cultural transmission, that we were not able to detect with this study. And of course the results may differ in other languages with different gender structures.”
