Summer Course 2025

The Different Words We Use to Describe Male and Female Leaders

We know that men and women are often described differently in performance evaluations, and now we have more information on exactly what some of those differences are. Researchers analyzed a large-scale military dataset (over 4,000 participants and 81,000 evaluations) to examine objective and subjective performance measures. They found no gender differences in objective measures (e.g., grades, fitness scores, class standing), but the subjective evaluations were very different. Negative words (like selfish, passive, and scattered) were much more frequently applied to women. The specific words used to describe men and women also differed. The most commonly used positive term to describe men was analytical, while for women it was compassionate. The most commonly used negative term to describe men was arrogant, while for women, it was inept — even though men’s and women’s performances were objectively the same.