Other words – including "she", "man", "wife" and "mother'' – are also off limits at some universities.

University of Queensland students have complained about academics docking marks for using the word "mankind'' in essays.

A politics student was penalised for using the grammatically correct pronoun of "she'' to describe a car.

"People are losing marks for using everyday speech because it's not gender-neutral,'' the student, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Courier Mail yesterday.

"I lost marks because I used 'mankind'' in my assignment, and I referred to a car I owned as 'she is my pride and joy'.''

A science student also lost marks for using "mankind'' in an essay about the philosophy of scientific method.

"I lost 10 marks – it's such a stupid thing to be marked down for,'' the student said.

"I heard of a girl in a different course who was marked down for using the words 'man-made' and 'sportsmanship'.