EMMA’S DISCOVERY: HOW GENDER DECODER TRANSFORMED HIRING

Emma, a recruitment manager at a global tech firm, had always been passionate about hiring diverse talent. However, she noticed that fewer women were applying for technical roles, even though the company’s hiring practices were meant to be fair. She decided to investigate and came across Gender Decoder, a free online tool that analyzes job descriptions for gender-coded language.

Curious, Emma copied and pasted a recent job posting for a software engineer role into the tool. The results surprised her—words like “competitive,” “driven,” and “aggressive” were flagged as masculine-coded, potentially discouraging women from applying. The tool suggested more neutral alternatives, such as “collaborative,” “motivated,” and “proactive.”

Emma worked with her team to adjust job descriptions using Gender Decoder’s recommendations. The next hiring cycle brought an increase in applications from women and non-binary candidates, leading to a more balanced and diverse talent pool.

Her experience proved that language matters. By making small but meaningful changes, companies can ensure their job postings invite all qualified candidates to apply regardless of gender.

Now, Emma encourages her company to use Gender Decoder for every job posting, ensuring hiring remains inclusive and free from unconscious bias.