During my years of research and work on sex/gender equity in employee training, women have expressed discomfort and frustration with the use of pronouns and accompanying ‘disclaimer’ that is sometimes used in training material:
“Where he/him is mentioned in this text, we of course also mean she/her. For readability we have chosen one pronoun”
Why can this approach be unsettling and excluding for women and, arguably, non – binary employees? I would like to suggest the following three reasons:
More than grammar
Personal pronouns are not just a simple substitute for the name of a person, they signify the gender of that person. And gender is an important factor of peoples’ identities. He/him is the personal pronoun of people identifying as men. So, when using he/him for all your readers (training participants) you are asking female and non-binary readers of your training text to pretend that they do not realise this is not them. It is like saying “I know you are called Jonathan, but I will call you Marc in this text because it is shorter to type. And because I told you so, it should not be an issue for you”. But it can be an issue of identity and respect:
“Using someone's correct gender pronouns is one of the most basic ways to show your respect for their identity” (https://lgbt.ucsf.edu/pronounsmatter)
Not neutral
Choosing he/him as the universal pronoun in your text is not a neutral choice. Organisations are widely perceived to reflect, value, and privilege masculine practices, leading to men and masculinity being the norm (Hearn, 2014). Solely using he/him confirms and strengthens this norm, to the detriment of equal opportunities for women and non-binary employees.
A great example of the hierarchy is a story that one of my workshop participants shared recently. While writing a training text, she suggested to her manager to use she/her in the text and reverse the disclaimer: “when she/her is mentioned, we of course also mean he/him”. This suggestion was rejected as being unsettling for the male participants.
Micro invalidation
Women, men, and non-binary employees may not have the same realities and experiences. Or challenges and barriers. While talents are the same, opportunities may not be. Gendered societal expectations, stereotypes and biases restrict workplace behaviours and career choices. Women face sexism, misogyny, and sexual harassment.
The exclusive use of he/him can be seen as ignoring the gendered experiences and realities of women and non-binary employees.
Better alternatives
Why not use alternative approaches to ensure readability, that may require a bit more thinking and work, but that are gender equitable. Ideas could be:
- Use roles: employees, participants, salespeople, team members etc.
- Use a variety of names and pronouns (for example Mary -she, John - he, Arden - they). This also provides the opportunity to ensure diversity and representation in your material. And negate stereotypes and biases, by showcasing for example a woman as CEO, Sales Director or Managing Partner.
- Use plural forms (managers, employees, buyers etc.) and they and them.
Do let me know your thoughts and ideas and how you use pronouns in your training material, so we can all be more inclusive and equitable as L&D professionals. Language matters!
Hearn, J. (2014) ‘Contextualizing men, masculinities, leadership, and management’, in Kumra, S., Simpson, R., and Burke, R. J. (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Gender in Organizations, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 417–437.
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