Academic writing should be inclusive and free from biased language that could cause offence. Biased language can particularly occur in the areas of:
Here are some examples of how you can make your writing more inclusive.
Use an appropriate level of specificity. You should avoid irrelevant information and use an appropriate level of detail. If something is not relevant to your assignment, then don’t include it. E.g. ‘the Chinese lecturer’. Is the ethnic identity of the lecturer important to the discussion? If not, just call them ‘the lecturer’.
Be sensitive to labels. If possible, call people what they prefer to be called. A useful rule is to put the person first, so rather than write, ‘schizophrenics’, use, ‘people with schizophrenia’.
You should avoid using job titles that assume only one sex can do the role. E.g. don’t use policeman, but police officer.
Avoid using pronouns like he or she when you could be referring to anyone. You should use they or their. E.g. ‘A nurse should reflect on her practice’,, would be better as ‘Nurses should reflect on their practice’.
Transgender refers to people who identify as a different gender than their assigned one at birth. Always refer to a transgender person by the pronoun they identify with.
Always use the term sexual orientation rather than sexual preference, as preference implies that this is voluntary.
Lesbian, gay men and bisexual should be used rather than homosexual.
Terminology changes regularly. This can be due to personal preference or terms can become dated and used negatively.
‘Ethnic minority’ can be acceptable, but if possible, use a more specific term, e.g. African-Caribbean, or by nationality, e.g. Mexican.
Avoid describing someone as a colour, e.g. black or white.
When writing about people with a disability, avoid language that makes the person their condition. e.g. don’t use epileptics, but put the person first, person with epilepsy.
Also avoid terms that have negative connotations. E.g. Don’t use AIDS victim, use person with AIDS.
Where it is appropriate, be specific about age, for example when talking about participants in a study. In this case, the ages of the participants could be very significant. If it is not relevant, don’t discuss age.
Older people is preferable to the elderly as this can be seen negatively.
Children under 12 can be referred to as children, boys and girls, 13-19 year olds can be referred to as adolescents or teenagers and people over 18 are adults, women and men, not girls and boys.