The Gender of Opportunity: How Gendered Job Titles Affect Job Seeker Attraction

Paul M. Gorny, Petra Nieken and Martin Trenkle

No 12721, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Recruitment signals shape applicant pools. Across three studies, we examine whether genderfair (vs. generic masculine) German job titles affect application behavior and job seekers' beliefs about organizational culture. In a large-scale pre-registered field experiment, gender-fair titles increase female applications and clicks in Business & Management where priors are flexible by about 50 %. There is no average effect in categories with less flexible priors consistent with a signaling model. Eye-tracking evidence shows effects reflect belief updating, not visual salience, and an online study supports gender-fair language as a credible equality signal. We find no male backlash.

Keywords: gender; labor; signaling; recruitment; bias; discrimination; gender-fair language (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 J16 J20 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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