AN EXPLORATION OF GENDER BIAS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY JOB ADVERTISEMENTS

Research indicates the existence of gender bias in job advertisements (Bem & Bem, 2006; Pedriana, 2004). Furthermore, Gaucher et al. (2011) found that job advertisements typically include more masculine-biased words that may discourage female applicants. A more current, technology-specific research effort may suggest otherwise. A data analysis of 1500 job descriptions obtained from a February 2020 dataset spanning three specific information technology job titles found no gender bias overall or in the selected job titles: Cybersecurity Analyst, Programmer Analyst or Systems Analyst. Additionally, 22,000 technology jobs were analyzed based on a dataset obtained from Dice.com. The analysis found that, overall, job descriptions in information technology contained more feminine than masculine words; thus, indicating no male gender bias. While there is significant data to support the assertion that the information technology field is vastly underrepresented by females, there is no evidence to support the affirmation that masculine-coded job advertisements contribute to the underrepresentation of women in information technology.