Women Representation in The Media: Gender Bias and Status Implications

Abstract

This study seeks to contribute to the existing literature about how women have been consistently represented in the media in a biased and stereotyped manner, especially in comparison with their male counterparts. Using an advanced computational, text-analysis program called Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), it investigates possible differences in use of language and capacity of coverage between articles featuring female figures and articles featuring male figures of three leading business magazines: Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Inc. from January 2018 to March 2020. Categories evaluated include word count, certainty, power, affiliation, and future-focused orientation. Results demonstrate that women are portrayed in less certain, less future-focused language, and especially are given strikingly lower word counts than men. However, there are no significant differences in the use of powerful and affiliative language between the two groups. This study then further discusses what implications these findings have regarding the status of women in public perceptions with assumptions about how women may overcome gender bias that future research can address.