Ever wondered why some jobs are dominated by men, while others are mostly women? Sure, some of it has to do with historical preferences and societal perceptions, but a more subtle culprit could be to blame for perpetuating the gender gap in certain professions. As it turns out, gendered language in job ads greatly affects the kind of people who apply for specific positions.

We're not just talking about the pronouns "he" and "she," either. Researchers at several prominent universities, including Duke and Princeton, recently discovered that men and women show preferences for jobs described in a way that conforms to the way society teaches them to think about their gender. For example, men are more likely to respond to jobs advertised as "competitive" and "dominant,"while women are more likely to seek out positions that are sold as "nurturing" and "compassionate."

The gap persists even when the same job is advertised in two different ways, Futurity reports. A nursing job was advertised to men with the sentence," We are determined to deliver superior medical treatment tailored to each individual patient," while the feminine advertisement said, "We are committed to providing top quality health care that is sympathetic to the needs of our patients." Beware of your subconscious reaction to gendered language, the researchers say - it could be preventing you from applying to a job you'd be perfect for. " People don't realize the cues being sent to them," explained says Aaron Kay, the senior author of the study, to the news outlet. "Consistently finding certain jobs less appealing - without being aware of the external reasons why - may lead some women away from occupations they may otherwise have found interesting."