Language In The Workplace
‘Hey guys, let’s get some beers after work on Friday’. Sounds like the sort of innocent phrase you might hear in passing at any number of workplaces. ‘Great’, you think, ‘An office with a social life. Must have a good culture.’ But as International Women’s Day comes around once more, it’s a good time to remember that words can, unlike what the old ‘sticks and stones’ adage says, still hurt you – and still be a personal and professional barrier to women.
Because, although society has made progress in recognising and moving away from some of the heavily gendered language of the past (how often do you hear the terms ‘waitress’, ‘stewardess’ or ‘hostess’ these days?), it’s still too easy to find examples of workplace vernacular that reinforce the unconscious bias that still exists.
Take, for example, recruitment adverts. It’s not difficult to spot examples of language where words with gendered associations (terms like ‘confident’, ‘strong’ and ‘decisive’) which can deter female candidates – who’s tendency is to only apply for roles where they meet 100% of the requirements (compared to 60% for men) – are used. So even innocently highlighting what appear to be desirable attributes in a candidate can find you unintentionally excluding what might otherwise be ideal applicants.
Things aren’t a lot better once candidates are in the workplace. ‘Middleman’, ‘wingman’, ‘right-hand man’ are still common (all, you’ll note, carry positive connotations of indispensability), as are negative (and undeniably feminine) terms like ‘drama queen’ or ‘prima donna’. Subconsciously, such language reinforces stereotypes that men are agentic, they get things done and are high achievers, while women…well they’re just hard work. Think about the difference between ‘posterboy’ and ‘mean girl’, for example.
The trope extends in to how we’re titled in the workplace, and how we refer to each other. Your business may refer to certain senior leaders as ‘Chief’ – Chief Executive, Chief Finance Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and so on. But the synonyms of ‘chief’ include ‘headman’, ‘master’, ‘Lord’ and other military derivations – all of which are male or carry masculine connotations. Even a seemingly innocent term like ‘guys’ carries an excluding weight. Google its meaning, and the first synonym you’ll be given is ‘man’ (followed by ‘fellow’ and ‘gentleman’). So that laudable suggestion about getting the ‘guys’ together for beers after work on Friday suddenly doesn’t sound quite so inclusive, does it?
Language can be used to empower, as well as to discriminate. As we celebrate International Women’s Day once again, I believe we should be grasping the opportunity to consider what we say and how an ingrained bias can hold people back, and exclude talent from progression. It’s more than having gender-neutral bathrooms and the freedom to identify as non-binary (good though these are). It’s actually in the everyday parlance of the workplace, and the way that the words we use codify roles and limit opportunity.
There are tools like gender decoders available to help neutralise bias in your job adverts, role profiles and interview questions, and HR managers are now much more sensitive to this issue. But this has to be a leadership consideration as well. It’s great that there are more women in senior roles in travel now, and that the industry at least recognises there is a gender pay gap, or the many other examples we can point to where our sector is taking positive steps towards equality. But in this instance, words speak just as loudly as actions. Recognising that gendered language pervades our workspaces, and will take discipline and modelling from above to neutralise, can be the catalyst for lasting change.
Flora Richardson
