IN A push towards being more gender inclusive, a number of universities across Australia have published guidelines that warn students against using language that can be perceived as discriminatory.

“Housewife” and “mankind” are just a couple of the words that are being discouraged and, in some cases, students can lose marks from assignments if they use language that stereotypes people on the basis of gender.

Perth’s Curtin University has “inclusive language procedures” that staff and students are required to follow to stamp out discrimination.

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Deputy vice-chancellor Jill Downie said the policy provided guidance to staff and students to ensure they were speaking and writing in an inclusive manner.

“The Student Charter and the Staff Code of Conduct set out the behavioural expectations in relation to students and staff, including a requirement to avoid behaviours which constitute discrimination and harassment,” she said.

“Where a member of the university community acts contrary to our expectations, there are clear processes to provide educative and/or other actions to address the issue.”

Professor Downie added that use of language contrary to these values could result in a student failing an assessment, though they would usually try to help them understand the issue first.

“Whilst it is possible that a student may fail an assessment or be subject to actions under the student charter or misconduct provisions, our preference would be to work with students to educate them on the use of inclusive language and this would be typically handled in the feedback provided to learners,” she said.

There are numerous other universities that have published similar guidelines showing students and staff what is acceptable language and what isn’t.

CQUniversity, which has 20 locations in different states, has a long list of gender neutral alternatives for common terms that may be perceived as bias in favour of one sex.

Instead of using “man” as a generic term, students are encouraged to use “humans”, “workforce” instead of “manpower” and “artificial” in place of “man-made”.

Activities or occupations that are seen as traditionally male or female dominated, such as “housewife” or “policeman” should be replaced with “homemaker” or “police officer” respectively.

The University of Wollongong advises people to avoid patronising expressions such as “the office girls” or colloquialisms such as “darl”, “doll” and “love”.

Using “man” as a verb is also frowned upon. For example, the phrase “we need someone to man the phones” should be changed to “we need someone to staff the phones”.

Monash University also outlines language that is appropriate to use, such as using “partner” instead of assuming someone’s sexual preference.

A style guide published by the University of Sydney’s Department of Gender and Cultural Studies insists that gender neutral language be used, even if it is grammatically wrong.

It states that “they” should be used in place of a single gendered pronoun, giving the example sentence of: “If a student wants their results early, they should go to the student centre.”

“Although this last sentence is grammatically incorrect, in speech it has become common practice to use the pronoun ‘they’ when referring to a generic person,” the guide states.