English does not have grammatical gender in the way some other languages do, because most nouns (e.g., lecture, timetable, desk, blackboard) have no gender and are referred to with the pronoun it. However, humans and animals (queen, king, lioness, lion) are usually referred to with gender-specific pronouns and, in this section, we encourage writers to use language that is respectful of human gender, whether it is binary or non-binary. In other words, we recommend that writers consciously adopt gender-inclusive language and use vocabulary that is unmarked for gender when gender is unknown or not relevant. In this regard, we have followed the guidelines of the European Institute for Gender Equality (https://eige.europa.eu/publications/gender-sensitive-communication) and the American Psychological Association (https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/gender).

6.1 Third-person pronouns

English pronouns are not gender-specific in the third person singular. When a person’s gender is binary, use she, her and her(s) for female gender and he, him and his for male gender.

When someone’s gender is non-binary, use that person’s self-identified pronouns, meaning the pronouns with which the person wants to be referred. In English, some people self-identify with the pronouns they, them and their(s), while others use sets of pronouns that have been introduced into the language to make it more gender inclusive, like ze, hir and hir(s), or like hen, henom and hen(s). In the examples below, the writer respects two people’s use of selfidentified pronouns.

When the person’s gender is not relevant, as is usually the case for institutional texts at our universities, use they, them and their(s).

Alternatively, rephrase the sentence so that the pronoun is unnecessary or pluralise the subject.

6.2 Jobs and roles

Most job titles do not distinguish between binary or non-binary options. For example, engineer, teacher, lecturer, doctor and architect can be used to refer to anybody. However, in many cases, man has traditionally been used as a suffix (for example, postman, policeman or chairman). More recently, the suffix woman has also been used (postwoman, policewoman or chairwoman), but it is now generally accepted that there is often no need for gender-specific terms and that more gender-neutral terms such as the ones below are preferable.

When referring to a particular person, then, try to avoid binary options if there is no need to be gender-specific. Therefore, not

but

When referring to the position rather than the person occupying it, always use the gender-neutral version(s).

6.3 Man as a reference to people in general

The word man has traditionally been used to refer not only to an adult male but also to the whole human race. Likewise, it has been used as a suffix (see 6.2) and a prefix (e.g., manpower) in a generic sense. Nevertheless, it is now generally accepted that these uses are sexist, exclude women and reinforce gender stereotypes so we recommend that they be substituted with gender-neutral terms such as the ones below.

Common gender-neutral alternatives to generic man

Alternatives to words with man as a prefix

Other words containing man do not need to be changed because they are not compounds incorporating the modern gender-specific word man but derivations of the Latin word manus (hand).

Likewise, there is no need to find an alternative for the word human because it does not finish with the suffix man but derives from the Latin word humanus.

6.4 Honorifics

Men have traditionally been addressed as Mr and women as Mrs and Miss. The honorifics for women refer to their marital status: Mrs for married women and Miss for single women. If you have no reason to talk about a woman’s marital status, use the honorific Ms.

Generally speaking, however, most other honorifics (Professor, Doctor, Rector, etc.) are gender-neutral.