Staff and students at a UK university are being encouraged to call their peers “they” until they can confirm their preferred pronouns.
The University of Kent produced a pronoun guidance document to create an “authentic culture of inclusion” and help preserve “human dignity”.
The three-page guide, made as part of its Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity initiative, encourages the university’s estimated 20,000 staff and students to state their pronouns such as he/him or she/her when introducing themselves to help “normalise the practice”.
Some academics at the institution criticised the guidance, saying it amounts to “linguistic policing”.
The guidance reads: “If an opportunity does not arise to find out what pronouns someone uses, you can use the non-gendered ‘they’ until you are sure.”
