In an increasingly globalized world, workplaces are becoming more diverse than ever. One aspect of diversity that has gained prominence is gender diversity—ensuring representation and inclusivity across all gender identities. Addressing the gender pay gap, for example, is essential for creating a truly inclusive and equitable workplace. However, gender diversity goes beyond such overt practices and can show up in more subtle ways, such as in the language you use in communications.
Fostering gender diversity in multilingual environments can come with unique challenges. This is especially true when navigating gendered languages and promoting inclusivity in communication. Language translation services are pivotal in bridging these gaps, helping organizations create inclusive environments that reflect and respect diverse gender identities.
Gender Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace
Gender diversity is the equitable representation of people of all gender identities within a workplace. It moves beyond the binary framework of male and female, recognizing and including individuals who identify as nonbinary, genderfluid, or other gender identities.
Language is a powerful tool in shaping and reflecting gender diversity. In gendered languages like French, Spanish, and German, nouns and pronouns are often gender-specific. This linguistic structure can inadvertently create challenges when organizations aim to promote gender diversity. Professional language services such as corporate HR translation and legal translation services can help address these challenges for organizations operating across linguistic and cultural borders.
Gender Inclusivity and a Diverse Workplace is Good for Business
Using gender-neutral terms can help foster a sense of inclusivity in the workplace. An inclusive workplace environment accepts and celebrates diversity in workers, including race, religion, and gender. A gender-diverse workforce enhances creativity and innovation, improves employee satisfaction, enables better decision-making, and reaches a broader target market.
Taking the First Step with Professional Translation Services
Many companies want to create an inclusive environment but don’t know where to start. The language you use to communicate is a good place to start. While writing in a gender-inclusive way may seem simple, the road to inclusivity is rife with pitfalls. There may be internal resistance to changing language or linguistic constraints from the language itself. Too much emphasis on neutrality can lead to awkwardly phrased messaging distracting rather than welcoming the consumer.
Working with a multilingual translation company well-versed in various professional language services will help you overcome these challenges.
How Professional Translators Help with Equal Representation
When we talk about gendered language in language services, there are two main aspects: gendered nouns and gender-specific addresses. Gendered languages categorize objects and people as either male or female. This often reinforces or perpetuates gendered stereotypes and unequal power dynamics in the workplace, intentionally or unintentionally.
Examining gendered language can give you a glimpse into a country’s culture and how it views men and women. Professional translators, typically native speakers of their language, implicitly understand the gender divide in linguistic terms. We can help your business communications with gender-neutral language, which creates a welcoming environment for all individuals.
Examples of Gendered Language Across the World
Gendered Language in English
English is a mostly gender-neutral language. Nouns like “table” and “moon” are not gendered, and there are many gender-neutral terms to replace gender-specific ones. The southern address “y’all” is gender neutral by default. Gendered terms like “salesman” and “stewardess” have been replaced with more inclusive terms like “salesperson” and “flight attendant.”
Gendered Language in Spanish
Spanish is a highly gendered language, divided into masculine and feminine terms. Mujer, the term for woman, is feminine, while hombre, for man, is masculine. Other terms are gendered with seemingly little correlation: the term for dishes (platos) is masculine while guitar (guitarra) is feminine. Navigating these nuances of gendered terms is the task of professional Spanish translation services, as expert linguists have a deep understanding of the grammar and syntax rules of the given languages they’re working in.
Gendered Language in French
French relies heavily on gendered terms. However, gender assignment for language does not always fall neatly into the divide of masculine words in masculine gender and feminine words in a feminine gender. The French term “‘a masculinité,” which means manliness, is actually a feminine term. One needs to keep in mind regional differences as well. English to Quebec French translation projects, for example, might not always be contextually or culturally similar to Parisian French and vice versa.
Gendered Language in Other Languages
Turkish is an example of a language that does not have many gendered nouns. There is only one term for both “he” and “she.” The same is true for Bengali. On the other end of the spectrum are languages that are built around gender. The Russian language is predicated on grammatical gender. Arabic has gendered nouns but often defaults to masculine forms of address.
Some languages that use gendered terms do not have a neutral or “third gender” denunciation, while others do. Japanese and Mandarin have introduced new words for non-binary identification, an expression outside the gender binary that did not exist until recently. As language evolves, the linguistic capabilities of professional translators must evolve too.
Gender Inclusion and Neutrality in Business Communications
Gender neutrality is a complex task in translation because language does not exist outside of the context of culture. The translator’s task is to strike a balance between linguistic accuracy, the impact of the message, and inclusivity. There is no simple or universal solution for gender equality, inclusivity, or neutrality in translation. There can be some limits to the ability to translate gender-neutrally. Some documents, like birth certificate translations, are not and cannot be gender-neutral, while others, like an advertising campaign to reach new markets, can be more inclusive.
For companies focused on inclusivity, using gender-neutral language is a step toward building a diverse workforce. Working with professional language services to create a gender-inclusive environment for all employees is a way to become more inclusive without adding workload to your team. JR Language translators, for example, can use gender-neutral plurals when referencing objects rather than gendered singulars. So can our interpreters when you use our conference interpretation services and more.
Supporting Gender Diversity through Language Services
Inclusive Hiring Practices and Building a Productive Working Environment
Examining the use of gendered language and bias also invites us to examine word order and bias. Semantic hierarchy when listing two or more people means listing them in order of importance. Does your business default to listing men and male employees first? Are you using gendered language in an advertisement or job listing that may be off-putting to women?
From internal memos and HR policies to email signatures and job postings, every communication is an opportunity to use gender-neutral language to create a welcoming environment. This applies to dealing with various stakeholders, from clients to partners to employee resource groups.
Examples of Gender Neutral Terms
- A school may invite “parents and legal guardians” to a teacher’s conference rather than “moms and dads,” getting rid of unconscious bias
- A legal firm may seek to hire an administrative assistant rather than a secretary, which historically represents female talent and invites gender bias
- A fire department may use the title “firefighter” rather than “fireman” in a job posting to embrace diverse talent, making more room for a fair representation and a diverse environment
- A restaurant should be staffed by greeters and waitstaff rather than a hostess and waitress, which focuses only on female employees
- A CEO can start a meeting by welcoming everyone or guests rather than ladies and gentlemen, creating a more equal balance
The solution is simple: Use gender-neutral terms in your business communication as much as possible. Work with professional translators and interpreters. We will help you in supporting gender diversity, in creating inclusive hiring practices, and in building a productive working environment.
Contact JR Language Translation Services Today
Gender-diverse companies are known to be more innovative, creative, and profitable, with higher employee engagement and productivity levels. If you’re interested in creating gender-neutral, multilingual communications, you need to partner with a translation company.
JR Language has been helping companies around the world with translation services for decades, and we can help you too. Whether you need to translate marketing materials with gender-neutral terms for global reach, certified translations for a court proceeding, or documents for personal use, we are happy to help. Our team of experienced professionals is here to support your language needs and help you create an inclusive workplace for all!
