Equality | 'Gender neutral' language trialed to recruit more women

Despite many employers encouraging more women to apply for roles in specific industries, such as tech, construction and automotive, The Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) is set to trial a new system to reach out to more women.

The public body has outlined plans to trial ‘gender-neutral’ language to help boost the number of females taking on an apprenticeship in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) industries, reports FE Week.

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This news comes after research discovered that masculine words in job adverts such as ‘ambition’, ‘challenging’ and ‘leader’ would put them off applying.

Currently, the figure of female representation within STEM sits at nine per cent and the Department for Education's permanent secretary, Jonathan Slater, previously said it was 'working hard' to increase the female proportion.