Bizarre HR: Feminine job titles encourage discrimination

Women with feminine-sounding job titles such as ‘police woman’ are apparently viewed as being less capable in their jobs.

New research from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Warsaw has found that although titles such as ‘chairwoman’ and have been used to promote gender equality, they actually can lead to further discrimination.

“Feminising language helps make women more visible and more salient, but apparently this is not always an advantage,” lead author Magdalena Formanowicz told The Telegraph.

“Emphasising femaleness with a feminine title may lower the evaluation of women in a professional context.”

The research also found men who use a feminine job title would be “devalued”, but added women who use masculine job titles could profit as they “sustain the cultural status quo”.

However, Neil Ashton, chairman of headhunting firm The Ashton Partnership, said employers had become “obsessed” with job titles which are “frankly irrelevant”.

He told The Telegraph women should have job titles that reflect their femininity if they wish, but there should also be space for masculine job titles if it empowers them.

“What's crucial is that the world wakes up to the importance of women in boardrooms. They are honest, loyal and can multi-task in a way men never can.”

The studies, carried out at the University of Kiel in Germany and the University of Bern in Switzerland, asked 96 men and women to evaluate applicants for a “prestigious expert position” and were given a newspaper commentary the candidate had written to help them. They then had to indicate how likely they were to give the applicant the job.

Male applicants and women with masculine job titles were rated equally highly, but women with feminine job titles were rated significantly lower.

Formanowicz said one reason for this could be a suspicion that women using feminine titles are feminists, which conservative men might view as undesirable, or that masculine titles are more established, leaving feminine titles sounding “awkward”.