Gender-sensitive language

The aim of gender-sensitive language is to address and include all people, irrespective of their gender identity. There are various approaches with varying degrees of effectiveness.

Friedrich-Alexander-Universität is bound to the General Rules of Procedure for Authorities in the Free State of Bavaria (AGO), amended with effect from April 1, 2024, that prohibits the use of special characters for expressing gender-sensitive language (as is common in German) in official correspondence and official language used by the authorities. Gender-neutral wording without special characters and naming both male and female options is still allowed. Who is affected by this change and who is not can be found in the following handout from FAU (only available in German, as it does not concern English language). In addition, the Office of Equality and Diversity has published recommendations for using gender-sensitive language (only available in German, as it does not concern English language).

One disadvantage of naming only the male and female versions of the word is that this refers exclusively to the female and male gender, although a third gender, diverse, has been legally recognized in the Federal Republic of Germany since late 2018. Gender-neutral formulations in German (e.g. “employees”) or gendering with special characters (“Mitarbeiter:innen”, “Mitarbeiter_innen”, “Mitarbeiter*innen”) counteract an exclusive and binary use of language as in the exclusive naming of male and female version (“Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter”).

For this reason, various institutions or groups advocate the use of special characters in the German language, for example the Office for Monitoring Accessible Information Technology (Überwachungsstelle des Bundes für Barrierefreiheit in der Informationstechnik – BFIT-Bund):

BFIT-Bund agrees with experts’ views and in accordance with their responsibilities under Section 8 BITV, they recommend using gender-sensitive language, in particular the gender asterisk (cf. Überwachungsstelle des Bundes für Barrierefreiheit in der Informationstechnik, 2021: Empfehlung zu gendergerechter, digital barrierefreier Sprache, p.15.)

Furthermore, there are also positions that attribute relevance to gender-sensitive language in terms of professional evaluation, for instance the Freie Universität Berlin:

From a professional perspective, for example, the (linguistic) consideration of gender diversity can represent a professional performance criterion in some contexts. For example, the degree program in Primary Education teaches students academic knowledge and practical skills needed to educate and transfer knowledge to children. As children are diverse both as regards gender and other social categories, taking this diversity into account during practical teaching (also with respect to the language used) ought to be considered a core skill. In this case, using gender-sensitive language could be a relevant criterion for assessing performance (cf. Freie Universität Berlin, accessed: December 2023).