Gender-Inclusive Job Postings: No Reason to Pull Your Hair Out

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Contents

• Goodbye Generic Masculine: Why It Belongs in the Past
• Gender-Inclusive Job Postings Open Up Opportunities
• Gender-Inclusive Writing Readers Barely Notice
• Do You Know Gender-Neutral Alternatives?
• The Plural Is Always Gender-Neutral
• One Last Tip: Mix It Up
• Conclusion
• Frequently Asked Questions

TL;DR

The best way to address people inclusively in job postings is to use gender-neutral wording such as "Bewerbende" (applicants) or "Geschäftsleitung" (management), to reach for the plural as a neutral form, and to add a gender star or colon only sparingly, so your texts stay readable and inclusive. The mix is what matters: neutral terms, double namings and a measured gender star keep your job postings inclusive and easy to read at the same time.

!Illustration on gender-inclusive language in job postings: gender star, colon and gender-neutral wording for inclusive job texts.

Author: Dominik Becker · Published: November 24, 2021

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Gender-inclusive language in job postings divides opinion. Few topics have split the recruiting community as much lately as inclusive wording in job ads. Critics worry that a gender star, underscore or colon in the text will hurt readability. But that is not really true. We have a few tips for you.

Goodbye Generic Masculine: Why It Belongs in the Past

In the past it was always the same. As soon as something changes, criticism rains down first. The same goes for gender-inclusive language, which most people equate with slotting a star, an underscore or a colon into gender-specific words. Too complicated, too hard to read, too confusing. That is the widespread opinion. And besides: who on earth puts punctuation or special characters in the middle of a word? So that Bewerber (applicant) suddenly becomes Bewerber\*in, Bewerber\_in or Bewerber:in.

Yes, all of this takes some getting used to, we admit. And yet we want to make the case for gender-inclusive language. Because it promotes diversity and reduces discrimination. After all, the goal of inclusive writing is to word texts so that people of all gender identities feel spoken to. That was not the case before. In texts of every kind, the generic masculine dominated. With the generic masculine, the male form is used uniformly for everyone, so for women, men and non-binary people. The catch: numerous studies have shown that women or members of the third gender do not feel spoken to by the generic masculine in the same way men do.

Gender-Inclusive Job Postings Open Up Opportunities

The reason: when we read a text, images form in our heads. If a job posting only uses the masculine form, those associations tend to be male-dominated. Even if that is not the intention at all. Let us put it to the test. Say you write a job ad for a _wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter_ (a male research assistant). What picture comes to mind now? Most likely a middle-aged male chemist in a white coat appears before your mind's eye, standing behind bubbling flasks that hiss and steam. Right?

Now watch what happens when your job posting says _wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter\*in_ instead. For most people, all kinds of ideas emerge about what the person being sought might look like. They could be male, female, transgender or intersex.

In the end, a small star helps make people visible who used to be excluded by the sole use of masculine terms. In recruiting, that can only be an advantage. Because it moves far more people to click the apply button in a job posting. Simply because they notice: this employer means me too.

Gender-Inclusive Writing Readers Barely Notice

So much for the theory. In practice, though, gender-inclusive language really is a bit involved. Many recruiters struggle with writing inclusive texts. Because it does not happen at the push of a button. You have to think about every sentence three times, and by the end of the day your job posting is swarming with special characters and nobody understands anything anymore.

But we have good news for you: there are ways to word a job posting inclusively without readability suffering. Here is what many people misunderstand about inclusive language: it does not mean you have to attach a star, colon or underscore to every term that refers to people. Quite the opposite. We would even advise you to use that form sparingly, and ideally only in short sentences. That way they stay easy to read.

Do You Know Gender-Neutral Alternatives?

For the rest of the text, you can use gender-neutral alternatives. This article is a good example that it works without any trouble. It is written inclusively. But we used the star very sparingly and relied on gender-neutral forms instead. Those exclude no one either.

You can inflect many words so they become neutral and speak to every gender: _Bewerber_ (applicant) turns into _Bewerbende_ or _Jobsuchende_ (applicants or job seekers). The _Geschäftsführer_ (managing director) becomes the _Geschäftsleitung_ (management). The _Assistent_ or _Assistentin_ (assistant) becomes the _Assistenz_ (assistance role).

There are also terms that are gender-neutral from the start. _Fachkraft_ (skilled professional) instead of _Experte_ or _Expertin_ (expert). Or _Talent_ instead of _Bewerber_ or _Bewerberin_ (applicant). And if you happen to be looking for a _Krankenschwester_ (a female nurse) or a _Pfleger_ (a male carer) in your job posting, just write: we are looking for _Pflegepersonal_ (nursing staff). Problem solved.

The Plural Is Always Gender-Neutral

But how do you handle job titles where the gender is baked right into the word? That is the case with _Kaufmann_ or _Kauffrau_ (male or female commercial clerk). Simple: use the plural. It is always gender-neutral. Just write _Kaufleute_ (commercial clerks) in your job title.

Take a close look. Wordings like these are showing up more and more often in job ads. They may have felt unusual at first, but by now they feel more familiar. That is just how it goes with change. All a matter of time. And at some point we wonder why we got so worked up a few months earlier. It will be the same with inclusive language, we are sure of it.

One Last Tip: Mix It Up

With a bit of practice, your texts will become inclusive too. And if the generic masculine slips in here and there, that is no drama at all. Nobody ever said you have to lock the male form away for good. You can still use it. Just not exclusively. If your text keeps showing neutral terms and the occasional star, you send a signal: „Bei uns ist jeder oder jede Bewerber\in willkommen." (Every applicant, of any gender, is welcome here.)*

There are, by the way, even more options. Here and there you can also use just the feminine form. Along the lines of: „Kandidatinnen loben immer wieder unser tolles Betriebsklima." (Candidates keep praising our great working atmosphere.) Or use the double naming of both genders: „Kolleginnen und Kollegen" (female and male colleagues) or „Managerinnen und Manager" (female and male managers). If you mix all these forms and use them in the right measure, your job postings will definitely not lose any readability. Quite the opposite. They come across as more varied and colorful, and everyone feels included.

Conclusion

Our takeaway: gender-inclusive language in job postings, and of course on career pages and across your whole employer branding, is not all that hard. It is still new for us too, and we are still practicing. But we get better every time. And we have to say: it is fun to lean into it. Because it opens the doors in recruiting to a great many people. And that is well worth it.