Purpose: This paper aims to analyse the construction of gender in business media through identification of media discourses in terms of vocabulary and vocabulary structures.
Design/methodology/approach: The authors conduct critical discourse analysis and linguistic text analysis of media articles in two Swedish business magazines, focussing on vocabulary and vocabulary structures used to describe men and women as managers.
Findings: Media texts fall into traditional, gender-stereotyped patterns. The use of metaphors, choice of words and sentence structures construct and maintain stereotyped models of gender. The linguistic practices and use of specific and gender-biased vocabulary shape discursive practices, contributing to the construction and reconstruction of institutionalised gender-stereotyped patterns of behaviour and established social norms.