😒 Agentic language
Has a connotation of competition and performance. Deters cooperatively minded people.
To reach out to team-minded people, use words that put cooperation, collaboration, connection, and a shared purpose first.
Basic Example
![](https://www.witty.works/hubfs/Agentic%20language-2.png)
Advanced Example
![](https://www.witty.works/hubfs/Agentic%20language%20Advanced-1.png)
As we grow up, we learn to associate words like take charge, determined, or outperforming with men, power, and the pursuit of personal success. These words are called agentic. They put self-advancement over collaboration. But women and Generation Z are socialized to value collaboration. By avoiding agentic words, you help build an environment where all genders and ages feel they can thrive.
👍
In the fourth quarter, our sales team grew total revenue by 53% year-on-year across marketplaces in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.👎
In Q4, Brandon, our Head of Sales, out-performed competitors across EMEA marketplaces, growing total revenue by 53% year-on-year.Doesn't resonate with
- People who enjoy interacting and collaborating while working toward shared milestones
- Everyone who identifies as a woman
- People inspired and motivated by a greater shared purpose
- The generation born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s
Shout-outs
- Removing These Gendered Keywords Gets You More Applicants (The ZipRecruiter Editors)
- When Words Matter: Communal and Agentic Language on Men and Women’s Resumes. Proceedings (Linnea Ng, Juan M. Madera, Stephanie Zajac, and Michelle Hebl)
- The Goldilocks Dilemma: Why Career Advancement is So Much Harder for Women Than Men and What Women Can Do to Change That (ANDIE & AL)
- Decoding bias: Gendered language in finance internship job postings (Erin Oldford & John Fiset)
- The language that holds women back at work (Christine Ro)
- Evidence That Gendered Wording in Job Advertisements Exists and Sustains Gender Inequality (Danielle Gaucher, Justin Friesen, and Aaron C. Key)