Language and gender: Computerized text analyses predict gender ratios from organizational descriptions

Previous research has shown that language in job adverts implicitly communicates gender stereotypes, which, in turn, influence employees' perceived fit with the job. In this way, language both reflects and maintains a gender segregated job market. The aim of this study was to test whether, and how, language in organizational descriptions reflects gender segregation in the organizations by the use of computational text analyses. We analyzed large Swedish companies' organizational descriptions from LinkedIn (N = 409), testing whether the language in the organizational descriptions is associated with the organizations' employee gender ratio, and how organizational descriptions for organizations with a majority of women and men employees differ. The statistical analyses showed that language in the organizational descriptions predicted the employee gender ratio in organizations well. Word clouds depicting words that differentiate between organizations with a majority of women and men employees showed that the language of organizations with a higher percentage of women employees was characterized by a local focus and emphasis on within-organizations relations, whereas the language of organizations with a higher percentage of men employees was characterized by an international focus and emphasis on sales and customer relations. These results imply that the language in organizational descriptions reflects gender segregation and stereotypes that women are associated with local and men with global workplaces. As language communicates subtle signals in regards to what potential candidate is most sought after in recruitment situations, differences in organizational descriptions can hinder underrepresented gender groups to apply to these jobs. As a consequence, such practices may contribute to gender segregation on the job market.

Relational demography in organizations: an assessment of the explored and overlooked

Purpose

The study aims to present an in-depth review of previous research on relational demography (individual–team dissimilarity) over the past 30 years. In doing so, the authors highlighted the main theoretical underpinnings, teased out the common methodological approaches and identified the major mediating processes and contingency factors that influence relational demography's effect on individual outcomes in teams.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors searched and examined eight databases (ABI/INFORM Complete, ProQuest, EBSCO, Web of Science, JSTOR, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO and Science Direct) and distilled 106 studies from 34 journals. The authors synthesized and analyzed this body of work to identify extant patterns and themes in relational demography.

Findings

The findings reveal that the majority of theories used are categorized into three segments. The antecedents used are mainly surface- and deep-level variables, while the outcomes are classified into personal- and work-related constructs. For research testing, Euclidean distance and Blau's index are primarily utilized as heterogeneity measures, while various forms of regression are used as the analytical tool for hypotheses testing.

Originality/value

Extant literature reviews on relational demography are scant. This study provides an extensive synthesis and analysis of the studies in the area over the past 30 years and offers an agenda that can motivate future research.

Applicant Fairness Perceptions of a Robot-Mediated Job Interview: A Video Vignette-Based Experimental Survey

It is well-established in the literature that biases (e. g., related to body size, ethnicity, race etc.) can occur during the employment interview and that applicants' fairness perceptions related to selection procedures can influence attitudes, intentions, and behaviors toward the recruiting organization. This study explores how social robotics may affect this situation. Using an online, video vignette-based experimental survey (n = 235), the study examines applicant fairness perceptions of two types of job interviews: a face-to-face and a robot-mediated interview. To reduce the risk of socially desirable responses, desensitize the topic, and detect any inconsistencies in the respondents' reactions to vignette scenarios, the study employs a first-person and a third-person perspective. In the robot-mediated interview, two teleoperated robots are used as fair proxies for the applicant and the interviewer, thus providing symmetrical visual anonymity unlike prior research that relied on asymmetrical anonymity, in which only one party was anonymized. This design is intended to eliminate visual cues that typically cause implicit biases and discrimination of applicants, but also to prevent biasing the interviewer's assessment through impression management tactics typically used by applicants. We hypothesize that fairness perception (i.e., procedural fairness and interactional fairness) and behavioral intentions (i.e., intentions of job acceptance, reapplication intentions, and recommendation intentions) will be higher in a robot-mediated job interview than in a face-to-face job interview, and that this effect will be stronger for introvert applicants. The study shows, contrary to our expectations, that the face-to-face interview is perceived as fairer, and that the applicant's personality (introvert vs. extravert) does not affect this perception. We discuss this finding and its implications, and address avenues for future research.

Intersectionally Insufficient: A Necessary Expansion of the Social-Structural Lens

Miner et al.’s (2018) interpretation of gender inequity in STEM fields as a social-structural problem shifts the onus from “her” as the root of the problem to “us” as a society. However, despite noting the “even bleaker” outlook for women of color early on, the focal article lacks an intersectional focus, ignoring the differential experiences that exist between white women and women of color. Crenshaw's (1991) original work on intersectionality highlighted the fact that the experiences of women of color (WOC) often differ drastically from those of their White counterparts, and the subsequent body of intersectionality literature in a variety of fields reminds us that failing to include an intersectional perspective is an oversight we can no longer afford to make. With this in mind, we highlight the ways in which those at the intersection of both gender and racial minority status face a “double bind” (Malcom & Malcom, 2011), such that they are additionally disadvantaged by society's perceptions and expectations of the behavior of WOC.

What do people desire in their leaders? The effect of leadership experience on desired leadership traits

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to determine how leadership experience affects the value leaders place on leadership traits. In particular, the author sought to determine if individuals with different amounts of leadership experience deferentially desire traits related to dominance and cooperation.

Design/methodology/approach

– Participants reported the importance of dominant and cooperative traits for an ideal leader, and reported the number of leadership roles that they had experienced.

Findings

– The desirability of dominance-related traits decreased as leadership experience increased, but only for women. In contrast, the desirability of cooperation-related traits remained the same, regardless of leadership experience or gender.

Practical implications

– Overall, these findings suggest leaders learn to desire different traits as they gain leadership experience. Implications of this research may exist in both business and political domains. In business, several leadership outcomes depend on trait desirability. In addition, interview and selection decisions may depend on the leadership experience and gender of the decision-maker. Organizations should carefully select members of the organization to make these critical hiring decisions. In politics, candidates would be wise to consider the leadership experience and gender of constituents in their self-presentation attempts.

Originality/value

– This research presents the first examination of the effect of leadership experience on the desirability of leader personality traits. In addition, this is one of the first studies to refocus on the dominance/cooperation dichotomy and “ideal” leadership – a promising focus for future trait research.

Cultural fit and ethnic background in the job interview

Employing an experimental design, we investigated how Norwegian managers’ ( N = 78) evaluations and intended hiring decisions varied with job applicants’ ethnic background (immigrant vs. native Norwegian mainstreamer) and the degree to which the candidates’ self-presentation fitted Norwegian cultural norms (level of cultural fit). The participants viewed video clips of applicants whose ethnicity and self-presentation was manipulated. Irrespective of ethnic background, low cultural fit candidates were evaluated as less similar, less likable, less likely to perform well, and as more poorly fitting the managers’ organization. However, low and high cultural fit candidates were evaluated as exhibiting similar levels of person–job fit. Logistic regression analyses showed that low cultural fit candidates were about six times less likely to be hired than high cultural fit candidates. In practice, immigrant applicants are more likely to exhibit low cultural fit. It is concluded that emphasis on cultural fit could easily have a disproportionate effect on immigrants’ chances of being hired, notably if fit is not predictive of job performance.