Gender-Sensitive Language

In accordance with its mission statement, the university strives to implement gender equality at all levels and in all areas. Point IV.3 of the Gender Equality Plan provides for the use of gender-sensitive language in particular in all guidelines, regulations, and official texts of the university. Sexist use of language is to be avoided in future. Nevertheless, most texts are still written in the generic masculine. Although more than half of the students are female (57.9 %), in many cases only  male students are referred to. Women are "included," but remain unmentioned and are thus invisible in the mind of the reader. However, in order to ensure equal linguistic treatment, men and women must be addressed equally.

Lecturers, and teachers-to-be in particular, have a responsibility to pay attention to their language and thereby contribute to language education. This guide is intended to help with this - because not everyone who uses sexist language is aware of it; and not everyone who wants to treat women and men equally in language knows how best to do so. "Not everyone is born with a talent for language" (Guideline of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior on gender-sensitive language use).

A guide for the University of Würzburg is in the works.