Gender-inclusive job titles: how language forms shape job pursuit intentions

Masculine job titles in job advertisements, though intended as gender-inclusive, carry a male bias that can induce a perceived lack-of-fit with the position among women. Conversely, job titles that include a feminine form may signal that women are suited, while potentially lowering the job’s perceived prestige, as femininity is associated with lower status. In a between-person experiment (N = 506) in German language, we tested how four job title forms intended as gender-inclusive affect women’s and men’s expected belongingness, perceived job prestige, and job pursuit intentions: the (1) masculine + m/w/d (German: male/female/diverse), (2) word pair (masculine/feminine), (3) feminine + m/w/d, and (4) asterisk form, a newer gender-inclusive option in German (English: wait*ress). Among women, feminine + m/w/d (vs. masculine + m/w/d) job titles increased job pursuit intentions through expected belongingness. Among men, word pairs and masculine + m/w/d (vs. feminine + m/w/d) job titles increased job pursuit intentions through expected belongingness. Prestige ratings for word pair, asterisk, or feminine + m/w/d job titles (vs. masculine + m/w/d) were lower for gender-balanced jobs, but higher for typically feminine jobs. These findings illustrate how language forms in grammatical gender languages, such as German, can affect both applicant interest and perceptions of jobs.