• Understand how to use gender-neutral language in business communications
• Understand how people of different genders might communicate differently
• Understand how various disabilities may affect communication
• Understand how to improve communication between people of different ages

Gender Impacts Communication in the Workplace

 

What’s in a chromosome (or two)? The difference in the pair of sex chromosomes that determine whether a child is assigned female (XX) or male (XY) at birth has a significant impact on the individual’s personal and professional development. It is not biology that affects our experience and expectations in the workplace (as some who would justify gender inequality would propose), but socialization, an accumulation of cultural, historical, and legal precedents that have created gender differences in our society.

According to the Brookings Institution, “Large gaps remain between men and women in employment rates, the jobs they hold, the wages they earn, and their overall economic security.” This is not just a women’s issue. In a publication from the Hamilton Project at Brookings, the authors conclude that “barriers to workforce participation for women are stifling the growth of the U.S. economy, and that future economic success hinges on improving career prospects and working environments for all women.”^[1]

Over the years, gendered terms (for example, “salesmen”) have come to be interpreted more broadly as referring to all genders, but the language is not inclusive. Indeed, the concept of gender as binary—that is, either female or male—is outdated. As the traditional ideas of gender and gender identity evolve, language must also adapt.

Using Gender Neutral Language

The use of gender-neutral language is now considered standard practice, incorporated in the American Psychological Association (APA) and other style guides that are the linguistic references for journalists, academics, and students.

You can access information about Bias-free language from APA and how to appropriately represent people in your writing, including sections on Disabilities, Race & Ethnicity, and Sex and Gender.

To achieve a more gender-inclusive end, The Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recommends focusing on three areas: gendered nouns, titles and names, and pronouns. Consider the following recommendations and examples:

1. Replace gendered nouns with more neutral language. This can be challenging, in particular when there is an established expectation or association. In updating the Star Trek franchise, writers replaced the “where no man has gone before” tagline with the more inclusive “where no one has gone before,” retaining both the rhythm and promise of the iconic phrase.
2. Choose equitable titles and names. To illustrate, use Ms. or another appropriate title (Professor, Dr., etc.) that doesn’t define a woman in terms of her relationship with a man. In both written and verbal contexts, give a woman the same respect as you would a man. For example, using both a first and last name or title and last name rather than an informal first name.
3. Use pronouns equitably. As mentioned above, using masculine pronouns (“he,” “his,” “him”) as the “default” is no longer an accepted practice. Instead, consider the following options:
   • Make your nouns and pronouns plural: This sidesteps the gender issue for your audience by making it sound as if there is more than one. For example, he or she becomes they.
   • Use “they” as a singular pronoun: Although “they” generally refers to a plural antecedent—that is, is used as a plural pronoun—it is also used as a gender-neutral pronoun. 

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