Why Polish Companies Are Rethinking Job Titles—and It’s Not About Grammar

The Feminative Firestorm: More Than a Linguistic Quirk

Few language debates in Poland elicit as much emotion as feminatives—the feminine forms of professional titles like prezeska (female CEO) or chirurżka (female surgeon). Proponents argue they correct a centuries-old linguistic imbalance that centered men; critics find the diminutive-sounding endings awkward or unprofessional. Language popularizer Paulina Mikuła, known online as “Mówiąc Inaczej,” warns that the real problem is not grammar but power: when a language has no word for a woman doing a job, it erases her from the profession altogether.

Mikuła points to a body of research, much of it gathered in her latest book, showing how language shapes ambition. In one experiment, 80% of children drawing a “scientist” drew a man; when asked to draw “a person doing science,” the share fell to 60–40. Job advertisements described purely in the masculine form (redaktor, menedżer) trigger a measurable drop in female candidates—and even when women do apply, recruiters subconsciously rate them as less suited to the role. “If there are no women in the language, then there are no women in that profession,” Mikuła explains.

Yet the push for mandatory feminatives has backfired in some quarters. Surveys show that many women themselves reject the forms, often because the -ka ending sounds like a diminutive that undercuts authority. Mikuła insists inclusivity must work both ways: respect the woman who wants to be called dyrektorka, and just as genuinely respect the one who insists on dyrektor. “Forcing change with shouting only builds resistance,” she adds. Instead, she advocates for normalization through exposure—as more women take senior roles and use the titles comfortably, the novelty and the perceived infantilization will fade.

Why the Words You Post in Job Ads Directly Impact Your Bottom Line

The business implications go well beyond social media quarrels. Mikuła’s observations—already being turned into corporate language audits and inclusive-communication workshops in Poland—point to concrete risks and opportunities for employers.

The Recruitment Bias Hidden in Plain Text

When a company writes a job ad for kierownik (male manager) instead of kierownik / kierowniczka or gender-neutral osoba zarządzająca, it is not being neutral—it is sending a signal. Research Mikuła cites shows that feminine wording in ads increases self-selection among female candidates. Organizations that persist with default-masculine language are, intentionally or not, narrowing their applicant pool and reinforcing unconscious bias in the screening process. In a tight labor market, that is an avoidable, self-imposed recruitment handicap.

The Prestige Problem: Why ‘CEO-ka’ Still Raises Eyebrows

The resistance to feminatives often boils down to prestige. Forms like chirurżka or inżynierka sound unfamiliar and, because they resemble diminutives, can seem as though they demote the role. Mikuła acknowledges the discomfort but argues it is a transitory, cultural problem—not a linguistic one. “If women switched en masse to feminine forms, they would stop sounding infantile and we’d simply get used to saying prezes and prezeska,” she says. For employers, the challenge is managing the transition so that women who adopt the forms are not implicitly penalized and those who decline them are not branded as unemancipated.

Tailored Communication as a Management Imperative

Beyond nouns and endings, the interview underscores a broader point about leadership communication. Mikuła notes that effective managers already adapt their style to individuals—some employees need a firm hand, others respond to reassurance. Inclusive language is simply an extension of that principle. Companies rolling out top-down mandates (“every woman must now be called -ka”) risk alienating exactly the people they aim to support, while those that offer choice and normalize both masculine and feminine forms are more likely to create a genuinely inclusive climate.

The trend is already visible: large corporations in Poland are commissioning language audits, running anti-discrimination workshops that cover gendered speech, and rewriting internal policies. As Mikuła puts it, “the language revolution is already underway—it’s just that some companies are feeling the benefit faster than others.”

Practical Steps for Business Leaders and Teams

For business leaders, HR professionals and team leads who want to turn the feminative debate into a strength rather than a flashpoint, Mikuła’s evidence suggests several concrete steps:

• Audit your job advertisements now. Compare the wording of your top-performing postings with applicant gender data. Test versions that use both masculine and feminine forms (or genuinely neutral alternatives, e.g., osoba zarządzająca) and measure the change in female application rates.
• Make title choices visible, not mandatory. In email signatures, internal directories and LinkedIn profiles, let individuals flag their preferred form—dyrektor or dyrektorka. Signal from the top that both choices are equally respected. This eases the burden on a lone female director in a small-town branch who may not want to stand out alone.
• Embed the topic in existing inclusion training, not as a separate lecture. Explain why some women avoid feminine endings and why others find them empowering. Use the research on children’s aspirations and recruiter bias to ground the discussion in data, not opinion.
• Track what changes. Metrics drawn directly from the story’s findings include the ratio of female to male applicants before and after language changes, employee engagement scores on the “belonging” dimension, and external brand perception surveys that probe how candidates rate the company’s inclusivity.
• Adapt everyday meeting and email language. Train team leads to avoid default-masculine plural address (“panowie” for mixed groups) and to use both forms or neutral constructions. The goal is not linguistic perfection but the steady, visible signal that the organization sees all its people.