Engineering is among the most male-dominated workforces in America. As of 2023, solely 16% of all engineers within the U.S. have been ladies. Marketing, in the meantime, is an business led by ladies: Although it has a extra even break up, the sector nonetheless employs extra ladies than males, with 60% of marketing roles in the U.S. being held by women.
However a phenomenon in new job listings has some consultants questioning if advertising and marketing is present process a reinvention—one designed to make it a extra engaging area for males.
The discourse started when brand consultant Miranda Shanahan identified a pattern she’s seen on LinkedIn. “I’m satisfied advertising and marketing jobs are being rebranded in order that boys can do it too,” Shanahan said in a video that’s garnered 1 million views on TikTok.
“We’re all of a sudden seeing the identical previous advertising and marketing roles being given new, technical-coded names,” she stated, referencing open positions on LinkedIn with titles like “senior branding engineer,” “advertising and marketing engineer,” and “GTM (or go-to-market) engineer.”
What are these jobs truly searching for from candidates? Quizlet’s listing for a “UGC (or user-generated content) engineer” mentions main a staff of creators, directing content material technique, and having a “deep understanding of viral content material and tendencies,” all obligations usually related to advertising and marketing roles greater than engineering roles.
Baseten’s “content engineer” role is famous to be “a primarily technical writing place.” In the meantime, Stable’s first-ever “growth engineer” shall be chargeable for information evaluation, focused outreach, and managing its advertising and marketing property. Many of those roles even have software program engineering and internet design parts.
Is that this historical past repeating itself?
Shanahan stated the state of affairs reminded her of what occurred to programming within the mid-Twentieth century. What started as a woman-dominated area underwent a cultural rebrand after the invention of the non-public laptop, with fewer ladies pursuing laptop science within the years that adopted.
“Software program was feminized when it was thought-about clerical, masculinized when it grew to become excessive standing,” Shanahan defined. “Advertising was feminized when it was ‘making issues fairly.’ Now, advertising and marketing is being masculinized as a result of AI has made it so anybody can code, and now the largest drawback is distribution.”
“This technical language is being utilized to earn respect with management, with out contemplating what meaning for who these roles may go to and who feels certified to use,” she concluded.
In fact, jobs don’t have genders, and there are already many males in advertising and marketing and many ladies in engineering.
However given the fields’ notable gender gaps, an obvious rebrand that may make advertising and marketing seem “manlier” is prompting examination.
‘So backwards’: Social media is break up on the take
The video rapidly unfold throughout social media. Many customers on X echoed Shanahan’s sentiment and added their very own proof. “Somebody at ramp as soon as advised me ‘progress is advertising and marketing when males do it,’” one user recalled.
“It’s exhausting to search out jobs which are truly in my area,” another user lamented, “as a result of they’ve began utilizing tech buzzwords for job descriptions to make males really feel like they’re doing one thing when it’s actually only a position that may beforehand be like a secretary or one thing.”
Journalist Taylor Lorenz additionally cosigned Shanahan’s take. “They’re calling social media managers ‘progress engineers’ now,” Lorenz wrote. “She’s 100% spot on with this evaluation.”
However others stated the video had issues all fallacious. One dissenter was Julia Pintar, cofounder of UGC firm Playkit, who stated she coined the time period UGC engineer and that Shanahan’s take is “so backwards.”
“We name it this as a result of distribution is integral to an organization’s success – it’s an enormous time job,” Pintar posted. “The nomenclature provides these roles the integrity that they deserve – we will’t win the gender struggle if we refuse to be equal.”
“The explanation why job titles have modified is just not as a result of males now do the roles ladies have been doing & subsequently [it’s] referred to as ‘engineering’ now,” another user argued, stating that many start-ups now incorporate coding into their advertising and marketing workflows. “That type of work has historically been referred to as engineering, so the title has merely modified to replicate the evolution of the position itself.”
