Developing a Nonsexist/Nongendered Language Policy at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
Rent from DeepDyve- Developing a Nonsexist/Nongendered Language Policy at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire1
Introduction
In fall 2011, a member of our campus’s Commission on the Status of Women noticed that she was listed as the chairman on her department’s website, and the commission’s assumption that this was not an isolated instance was the genesis of this project. Theresa Kemp, then the director of women’s studies, volunteered to investigate further, and by January 2012 she recruited Erica Benson, an associate professor of linguistics; two undergraduate students, Casey Coughlin and Meghann McKinnon, who was replaced by Quinn Forss in May 2012; and Laura Becherer, a graduate student in English, to begin investigating the prevalence of sexist and unnecessarily gendered language on our campus. A sixth researcher, social psychologist Angela Pirlott, joined our project in spring 2013. At the outset of the project, two resources proved invaluable: Francine Wattman Frank and Paula A. Treichler’s Language, Gender, and Professional Writing, which not only helped us define sexist/gendered language but also identified numerous other helpful resources and outlined the development of the language policy of the Modern Language Association, and Anne Pauwels’s “Linguistic Sexism and Feminist Linguistic Activism,” which outlined the steps for developing language policy.
Our ultimate goal was to develop a research-based action plan to justify the need for, and consequently the creation and adoption of, gender-inclusive language policies that aligned with our university’s equity, diversity, and inclusivity goals and mission. This goal was realized through the following sub-goals: (1) to research prior studies on the effects of sexist and unnecessarily gendered language; (2) to systematically investigate public university documents for sexist and unnecessarily gendered language; (3) to research policy documents regarding inclusive language at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC) and the University of Wisconsin System (which oversees the institutions that comprise the public university system in the state, including thirteen four-year institutions, thirteen two-year colleges, and the statewide UW Extension); (4) to review the language [End Page 230] policies of other academic institutions and professional organizations; (5) to assess the climate toward sexist/gendered language via an online survey of faculty, staff, and students; and ultimately (6) to implement a research-based inclusive language policy with support from students, faculty, staff, and administrators at UWEC.
UWEC is a public regional comprehensive university, with an undergraduate student population of around ten thousand. Approximately 90 percent of our students are white; 92 percent are under the age of twenty-five; and 59 percent are female. Known for its strengths in liberal arts education and interdisciplinary collaboration, UWEC especially prides itself on the faculty-student collaborative research opportunities it provides for undergraduates, and this project is one such collaboration.
Three overarching themes characterize our project: (1) Interdisciplinarity: We have been privileged to bring a variety of experiences, identities, and perspectives into the project—including academic focuses in linguistics, psychology, feminist theory, and queer theory. Our research team includes two undergraduates with programs in women’s studies and English, a graduate student in English, and three faculty members from English, psychology, and women’s studies. (2) Collaboration: We ourselves are a collaborative research team of students and faculty. Along the way, we are fortunate to have had a variety of resources and allies join us in this project, including social psychologist Angela Pirlott, who became a part of the team in Spring 2013. In addition, we found support from the Affirmative Action office, the Executive Committee of the University Senate, the University Senate, and the Center for Writing Excellence; within these offices and committees several individual members provided invaluable support and guidance for navigating the pre-approval, approval, and implementation processes. (3) Organic Process: We see the implementation stage as an ongoing process with living documents that will require continual updating.
In the next section, we define what we mean by sexist language, gendered language, and unnecessarily gendered language and then review literature on the effects of sexist and unnecessarily gendered language.
