IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/idb/brikps/12819.html

What Job Would You Apply to?: Findings on the Impact of Language on Job Searches

Author

Listed:
  • Díaz Escobar, Ana María
  • Salas Bahamón, Luz Magdalena
  • Piras, Claudia
  • Suaya, Agustina

Abstract

This study tests four "light touch" interventions in the language used in job posts of male- dominated occupations to attract female workers using a discrete choice experiment. This experiment had more than 5000 participants from five Latin American countries. We test two possible mechanisms: the gender-stereotypes related to job skills and the use of inclusive language. We find that language matters, and men and women value information and inclusive language in job advertisements. However, women are more sensitive in this regard. We test the effect of simply aggregating irrelevant, but additional words to the job ad, and find that when the inclusive language in the ad is subtle, the effect of having more words is very important. But it decreases when the language signals a strong preference for an inclusive work environment. These findings highlight the importance of language and the type of information presented in job advertisements in attracting a gender-balanced workforce.

Suggested Citation

  • Díaz Escobar, Ana María & Salas Bahamón, Luz Magdalena & Piras, Claudia & Suaya, Agustina, 2023. "What Job Would You Apply to?: Findings on the Impact of Language on Job Searches," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12819, Inter-American Development Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:12819
    DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0004856
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/What-Job-Would-You-Apply-to-Findings-on-the-Impact-of-Language-on-Job-Searches.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0004856?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicole Maestas & Kathleen J. Mullen & David Powell & Till von Wachter & Jeffrey B. Wenger, 2023. "The Value of Working Conditions in the United States and the Implications for the Structure of Wages," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(7), pages 2007-2047, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Romuald Meango & Esther Mirjam Girsberger, 2023. "Just Ask Them Twice: Choice Probabilities and Identification of Ex ante returns and Willingness-To-Pay," Papers 2303.03009, arXiv.org, revised May 2025.
    2. Piotr Lewandowski & Katarzyna Lipowska & Mateusz Smoter, 2022. "Working from home during a pandemic – a discrete choice experiment in Poland," IBS Working Papers 03/2022, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    3. Fuchsman, Dillon & McGee, Josh B. & Zamarro, Gema, 2023. "Teachers’ willingness to pay for retirement benefits: A national stated preferences experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Tristany Armangue-Jubert & Tancredi Rapone & Alessandro Ruggieri, 2026. "Firm Dynamics, Monopsony, and Aggregate Productivity Differences," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 59, January.
    5. Moens, Eline & Verhofstadt, Elsy & Van Ootegem, Luc & Baert, Stijn, 2022. "Disentangling the Attractiveness of Telework to Employees: A Factorial Survey Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 15190, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Josep Amer-Mestre and Agnès Charpin, 2022. "Gender Differences in Early Occupational Choices: Evidence from Medical Specialty Selection," Economics Working Papers EUI ECO 2022/01, European University Institute.
    7. Scott, Andrew J., 2023. "The economics of longevity – An introduction," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    8. Roch-Dupré, David & Aracil, Elisa & Calvo-Bascones, Pablo, 2024. "Monitoring socioeconomic readiness for the demographic transition: Introducing the Senior Economy Tracker," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 430-443.
    9. Alonzo, Davide & Gallipoli, Giovanni, 2023. "The Changing Value of Employment and Its Implications," CEPR Discussion Papers 17943, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Männasoo, Kadri, 2022. "Working hours and gender wage differentials: Evidence from the American Working Conditions Survey," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Maclean, J. Catherine & Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2020. "Mandated Sick Pay: Coverage, Utilization, and Welfare Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 13132, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Pamela Giustinelli, 2022. "Expectations in Education: Framework, Elicitation, and Evidence," Working Papers 2022-026, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    13. Romuald Méango & François Poinas, 2023. "The (Option-) Value of Overstaying," CESifo Working Paper Series 10536, CESifo.
    14. Markus Nagler & Johannes Rincke & Erwin Winkler, 2024. "Working from home, commuting, and gender," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(3), pages 1-23, September.
    15. Patrick M. Kline, 2024. "Firm Wage Effects," NBER Working Papers 33084, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Devon Gorry & Sita Nataraj Slavov, 2023. "The effect of retirement on health behaviors," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(10), pages 2234-2259, October.
    17. Kory Kroft & Yao Luo & Magne Mogstad & Bradley Setzler, 2025. "Imperfect Competition and Rents in Labor and Product Markets: The Case of the Construction Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(9), pages 2926-2969, September.
    18. Desiere, Sam & Walter, Christian, 2023. "The Shift Premium: Evidence from a Discrete Choice Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 16460, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Boinet, Césarine & Norris, Jonathan & Romiti, Agnese & Shi, Zhan & Telemo, Paul, 2024. "Beliefs on Children's Human Capital Formation and Mothers at Work," IZA Discussion Papers 17574, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Guillaume Gueguen & Claudia Senik, 2023. "Adopting telework: The causal impact of working from home on subjective well‐being," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(4), pages 832-868, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:12819. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Felipe Herrera Library (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iadbbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.