Men and women: basically the same

Both genders are looking for a decent wage and flexible conditions from their jobs. Obv.

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From the editor: time for a change?

Myth busting research has found that men and women are more alike than they are different when it comes to work.

Men are only marginally less likely to value flexible working arrangements when considering a job. But men are also less likely to be motivated by salary compared to women.

Research carried out for social network LinkedIn in conjunction with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership looked at the different ways that men and women approach job adverts. And found there was actually a lot of similarities.

75% of men said they valued the salary when looking at a new position, but 80% of women said the bottom line was most important to them. Half of all men said they wanted flexible working from a job, while 60% of women said it was important to them suggesting that work-life balance issues cut across the sexes. Consequently the report suggests that all jobs are advertised as flexible by default, a cause that has recently been taken up in parliament by campaigners including Instagram stars Papa Pukka and Mother Pukka.

Gendered language

The research also looked at the language used in job adverts. Global Institute for Women’s Leadership boss Professor Rosie Campbell is a global expert in gendered language. It found that women in particular would be put off by recruitment ads looking for a ‘born leader’ or that boasted of an ‘aggressive environment’. But again the sexes have more in common than divides them with a third of men reporting they wouldn’t fancy an ‘aggressive’ workplace. And both genders picked the same top three terms that would attract them to a job: ‘confident’, ‘hard-working’ and ‘good at my job’.

A similar proportion of men and women – around one in three – said they’d describe themselves as ‘ambitious’ in a job interview and at a performance review.

Janine Chamberlin, director of talent Solutions at LinkedIn, said: “With unemployment at its lowest level for decades – talent professionals need to be deliberate with the words they are using in job adverts, interviews, social media and in the workplace itself if they wish to attract, build and retain diverse teams.”

A note from the editor

Full disclosure: wearing another hat I make podcasts for the Global Institute for Women's Leadership and I'm a huge fan of Professor Rosie Campbell and Julia Gillard and the work they do. This latest research has been reported as showing how companies need to react to attract the best female talent. But the overriding theme is actually how both genders take a very similar approach to work and to work-life balance. Let's stop looking for differences and focus on policies that work for ALL parents.