Why Are Men STILL Getting Hired More Than Women?

It’s no secret that men and women are hired at disproportionate levels. Men are 40% more likely to be promoted to management than women are, and only 4.9% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 2% of S&P 500 CEOs are women, despite the fact that women score significantly higher than men in leadership skills.

There are many reasons as to why this unfortunate fact exists. When Hewlett-Packard wanted to know why there were more men than women in leadership positions at their company, they went digging for answers. Here’s what they found:

“Women working at HP applied for a promotion only when they believed they met 100 percent of the qualifications listed for the job. Men were happy to apply when they thought they could meet 60 percent of the job requirements.”

This suggests that women aren’t as confident in their capabilities as men are. Ladies, we aren’t taking action the same way that men are in the job force and this is a crucial error! To be clear, I am not suggesting that women are at fault for the gender gap. But I do believe that there is something we can do about it, and the sooner we act, the better!

The future is female, right? Right.

In 2019, LinkedIn decided to do a little bit of their own research into the gender gap phenomenon. They analyzed “billions of interactions between companies and candidates from job applications to recruiter outreach and hires.” In the end, they found that men and women look for jobs in similar ways, but there may be a flawed system at work that causes women to go through the application process with less confidence than men.

Men and women search for new job opportunities at a nearly equal rate (90% of men and 88% of women), suggesting that everyone wants to further their career in one way or another. Never settle! That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

This is where it gets interesting. The statistic that Hewlett Packard found turns out to be corroborated by LinkedIn’s findings:

“Research shows that in order to apply for a job women feel they need to meet 100% of the criteria while men usually apply after meeting about 60%. LinkedIn behavioral data backs this up — women tend to screen themselves out of the conversation and end up applying to fewer jobs than men.”

This may have something to do with the way that job descriptions and applications are formulated. It seems that some inherently deter women – especially those who do not have as much confidence as men in their capabilities.

Here is  another finding that I thought was particularly interesting:

“…seniority requirements can perpetuate imbalances, since historically there have been fewer women in senior roles.”

Based on that we can assume that women, even those who match every other requirement in the position, won’t apply because they simply haven’t been in a senior role. Regardless if their current role has all of the similar responsibilities to that senior role or not. That begs the question, does seniority really matter? Who’s to say that you are not just as – or more – qualified as a man who has experience in a position above yours? Move over, boys!

You’ve got the knowledge, power, and strength that you need to succeed – it’s time to harness it.

LinkedIn goes on to say applications that use gender-specific or stereotypically masculine words are likely to deter women. Thus, they give companies the following advice:

“Make sure you’re using gender-neutral language by avoiding words that are stereotypically “masculine” and can turn women away, such as “dominate” or “rock star.”

Now, let’s shift a little bit and go into the actual application process and how women navigate it differently than men, according to LinkedIn’s report.

Men v Women – The Application Process

In LinkedIn’s Gender Insights Report, it was found that when women do apply for a new position, they are 26% less likely than men to ask for a referral. Take it from someone who has been involved in the hiring process thousands of times: professional referrals are HUGE. Companies feel reassured when someone they trust is willing to vouch for an applicant.

Ladies. I cannot stress this enough. Ask for a professional referral every time you are applying for a new job! Not only will it help you through the actual application process but knowing that there’s someone out there who is willing to put themselves on the line for you can be a huge confidence boost! I know that you don’t need someone to tell you how bada** you are at your job. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to get that reassurance from someone you respect.

Now, there is a silver lining to the confidence disparity between men and women in the job application process. Because women tend to apply for jobs that they feel they are 100% qualified for, they actually do tend to get hired more often than men – by 16%.

This could indicate, however, that women aren’t pursuing stretch opportunities (positions that are slightly beyond their skill level) at the same rate as men. It seems as though women are combing through a job description, seeing that they don’t meet about 40% of the qualifications, and then move on to apply to a different, possibly lower-level, position.

But get this: women are 18% more likely than men to get hired when they DO pursue stretch opportunities! Ladies! That means you have a great chance of getting hired if you apply for that position that you think you’re underqualified for! Just go for it. If you’re shot down, it’s okay because at least you tried. Shrug it off and move on – you will have another chance to show your value to a company.

Not Qualified to Apply or Not Qualified for the Job?

Tara Sophia Mohr of the Harvard Business Review surveyed over 1,000 men and women, asking the question, “Why didn’t you apply for that job?”

The most common answer, between men and women, was “I didn’t think they would hire me since I didn’t meet the qualifications, and I didn’t want to waste my time and energy,” and the least common answer was “I didn’t think I could do the job well.”

This indicates that both men and women view job applications as a rigid “you got it, or you don’t – and don’t even think about applying if you ‘don’t’.” It may not have as much to do with their self-efficacy, but rather the way the job application process is viewed as a whole.

In reality the hiring process is a bit subjective – advocacy, relationships, and your approach to framing your expertise can override your missing skills and lack of experience. It’s all about how you view yourself, how others view you, and how willing you are to try despite your shortcomings.

Fake it ‘til You Make it?

So, as women, what can we do about this very clear issue in the job application and hiring process?

The first step is to be aware of what’s really going on. I am bringing this information to you so you can be aware of the specific and inherent gender biases that are in the job application and hiring process so you can circumnavigate them. I want you to feel as qualified as any other person applying for the job.

Most people say that you should “fake it ‘til you make it.” And to be honest, I used to think that way, too! I would tell myself that it doesn’t matter if I’m underqualified if I could just make someone believe that I was well-qualified – I’ll figure it out as I go!

Knowing now what we know about the way the job application and hiring process is formulated – the biased words that are used, the fact that requiring experience in a senior position may not be fair, and that you have advocacy and your connections on your side – you don’t need to fake anything. You just need to bring your most authentic self to the job, ignore inherently biased terms on applications, and go for it! Oh, and ask for professional referrals. Always.

Claim Your Truth and ACT!

Women tend to view failure as an internal issue (“I messed up”) while men view failure as an external issue (“That was too hard”). In the book The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know, by Journalists Katty Kay and Claire Shipman, they refer to the work of Milan research psychologist, Zachary Estes, who has studied the way confidence, or lack thereof, affects men and women differently.

“Estes’s work illustrates a key point: the natural result of low confidence is inaction. When women don’t act, when we hesitate because we aren’t sure, we hold ourselves back. But when we do act, even if it’s because we’re forced to, we perform just as well as men do.”

What if women acted when we felt 60% percent confident, as men do? What if we stopped feeling like we had to fake anything and stood in our current truths with 60% confidence that we could succeed with what we have right now?

What are you 60% sure you could accomplish, and what steps can you make to either claim it or become more confident? Let’s lean into our destiny, ladies! It looks like success to me.