The Effects of Arabic Gendered Language in Job Advertisements on Recruiters’ Evaluation of Job Applicants—A Hiring-Simulation Experiment

Abstract

This research investigated the impact of grammatically gendered language in Arabic job advertisements on recruiters’ evaluation of applicants’ job fit, wage allocation, and hireability. In a between-participants hiring-simulation experiment, Arabic-speaking recruiters from local companies in Egypt (N = 181) evaluated either a woman or a man applying for a job advertised in gender inclusive language (grammatically gendered role pairs in the order feminine/masculine; e.g., مسؤولة/مسؤول; sales officer [+fem]/sales officer [+masc]) or solely masculine language (مسؤول; sales officer [+masc]). The results revealed that in the masculine language condition, the woman was rated as less fitting, received lower wage allocations, and was less likely recommended to be hired than the man, whereas in the gender inclusive language condition, the woman and the man were evaluated comparably. Furthermore, the woman in the gender inclusive language condition was evaluated as better fit for the job, received higher wage allocations, and was more likely recommended to be hired, in comparison to the woman in the masculine language condition. Overall, these findings highlight the need to promote gender-inclusive language in recruitment practices in Arabic to reduce discrimination against women in these settings.