Advice on how to use inclusive terminology.
Age
Ageism or age discrimination is when someone treats you unfairly because of your age.
Only include age if it’s relevant.
Don’t use age to describe a group or individual where it’s irrelevant, eg mature workforce or young and vibrant team. One gives a bias of experience, the other of youth and energy.
In an interview, don’t ask “how long have you been in the role?” Say “tell us about your experience.”
Only include age if it’s relevant.
Don’t use age to describe a group or individual where it’s irrelevant, eg mature workforce or young and vibrant team. One gives a bias of experience, the other of youth and energy.
In an interview, don’t ask “how long have you been in the role?” Say “tell us about your experience.”
Use
- child (4–12)
- teenager (13–19)
- young adult (16–24)
- adult (16–64)
- older people/adults
- over 65s, over 70s, etc.
Don’t use
- elderly
- pensioner
- youngster
- youth
- young and vibrant
- old and mature
Disability
We use people-first language eg people with disabilities.
This is because people-first language focuses on the abilities and person. Disabled describes a group of people and their condition, rather than an individual.
Ableism favours people who aren’t disabled and sees them as superior. It discriminates in favour of people who aren’t disabled.
Disablism discriminates or prejudices against people who are disabled.
This is because people-first language focuses on the abilities and person. Disabled describes a group of people and their condition, rather than an individual.
Ableism favours people who aren’t disabled and sees them as superior. It discriminates in favour of people who aren’t disabled.
Disablism discriminates or prejudices against people who are disabled.
Use
- people with disabilities
- wheelchair user
- user of British Sign Language (BSL)
- person with a hearing impairment
- person with a growth restriction
- person with a mental health condition
- person with cancer
- seizures
Don’t use
- the disabled
- wheelchair bound
- a condition as an idiom eg deaf to our pleas
- afflicted by/suffers from/victim of
- cripple or invalid
- deaf and dumb/mute
- able-bodied
- dwarf or midget
- mental patient/insane/mad
- fits, spells or attacks
Gender and sex
Use gender neutral language.
Only mention sex, gender or sexuality if they're relevant.
Only mention sex, gender or sexuality if they're relevant.
Use
- just man or woman or refer to trans man and trans woman
- trans to describe people whose gender identity is different to the one they were assigned at birth
- non-binary to describe people whose gender identity is neither male nor female
- cis to describe people whose gender identity is the same as the one they were assigned at birth
- the pronouns and name someone identifies with and wants you to use
- they as a singular third person pronoun if you’re unsure of someone’s gender
- people/persons or individuals rather than being gender specific like using chair person, not chairman, use sports person, not sports man
- sibling rather than brother/sister eg how many siblings do you have? Not how many brothers and sisters do you have?
- humankind, not mankind
- synthetic or artificial, not manmade
- partners
- workforce or employees, not manpower
- woman or man rather than female or male.
Don’t use
- titles like Mr, Miss, Ms, Mrs, unless it’s a very formal situation. In these situations, use Ms over Miss or Mrs for women unless they have indicated otherwise. Mx (pronounced Mixter) is a suitable option for non-binary people. Where a person has a more senior title, such as Dame, Dr or Lord, this should be used instead he or he or she when referring to an unknown
- third person – use they
- he/him or she/her
- a capital t when writing trans
- tokenistic reverse stereotypes, like female engineer or male nurse except where helpful (eg a project on women in STEM)
- mankind
- manmade
- man and wife
- manpower.
Mental health
Mental health includes emotional, psychological and social well-being – how we think, feel and act.
Like physical health, we all have mental health and the way that we experience it is unique to us. We don’t define people by their mental health condition.
Use person-first language to be sensitive and avoid positive and negative labels. Eg Mary has schizophrenia not Mary is schizophrenic or Mary suffers from schizophrenia.
Like physical health, we all have mental health and the way that we experience it is unique to us. We don’t define people by their mental health condition.
Use person-first language to be sensitive and avoid positive and negative labels. Eg Mary has schizophrenia not Mary is schizophrenic or Mary suffers from schizophrenia.
Use
- someone experiencing a mental health condition – this helps to acknowledge that there are other parts of their identity that exist as well
- people experiencing anxiety.
Don’t use
- mental health terms as adjectives to describe people or behaviours eg don’t describe someone who is neat and tidy as ‘being a bit OCD’
- language that attaches someone’s mental health experiences to their identity eg “they’re bipolar” or “they’re a paranoid schizophrenic”
- the term committed suicide, as it originates when suicide was considered a crime and a sin. Use expressions like took their own life or ended their own life
- judgements/stereotypes – eg a person who is depressed is sad all the time.
Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity is an umbrella term that includes people with autism, dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and more. Some people also categorise long-term or chronic mental health conditions like borderline personality disorder, anxiety or bipolar as neurodivergent.
Refer to people as being a person with ADHD or a person with autism. Some people on the autistic spectrum refer to themselves as autistic or use other definitions. Ask which term is preferred when speaking to them and use it.
Do not use functioning labels, like high or low, when referring to someone who is neurodivergent. The reality is more complex.
See mental health.
Refer to people as being a person with ADHD or a person with autism. Some people on the autistic spectrum refer to themselves as autistic or use other definitions. Ask which term is preferred when speaking to them and use it.
Do not use functioning labels, like high or low, when referring to someone who is neurodivergent. The reality is more complex.
See mental health.
Use
- use people-first language, referring to someone as a person with autism
- autistic adult, people or child
- person/child on the autism spectrum
- is autistic
- is on the autism spectrum
- has an autism diagnosis
- neurotypical
- condition (unless using disorder in a medical context).
Don’t use
- autistic person
- person on the autistic spectrum
- has autism
- an autistic, autist, autie or an aspie
- suffers from or is a victim of autism
- retarded/mentally handicapped/backward
- mild/severe
- high functioning or low functioning
- disease/illness/handicap
- asperger syndrome
- people living with autism (to describe autistic people and their family and friends)
- disability.
Race and ethnicity
Use the term ethnic minority or ethnic minorities.
Other terms are:
- BAME – Black, Asian and minority ethnic
- BME – Black and minority ethnic
- POC – People of Colour.
All terms are widely used in the UK, but they miss out White ethnic minorities like Gypsy, Roma and Traveller of Irish Heritage groups and Jewish groups.
There are differences between ethnic groups, like Chinese and Pakistani. Refer to the group, where possible, rather than ethnic minority ie Asian.
Only refer to a person's race or ethnicity if it’s relevant to what’s being communicated.
Don't assume ethnicity based on place of birth or name.
Race and ethnicity have very different meanings – use: race to describe people as having shared physical traits, like hair texture, colour or a shared historical experience. ethnicity to link cultural expression and a shared national or cultural identity, language or religious expression.
Use the capitalised versions of the words Black and White as this identifies that people are not an adjective. People aren’t black and white in colour.
There are differences between ethnic groups, like Chinese and Pakistani. Refer to the group, where possible, rather than ethnic minority ie Asian.
Only refer to a person's race or ethnicity if it’s relevant to what’s being communicated.
Don't assume ethnicity based on place of birth or name.
Race and ethnicity have very different meanings – use: race to describe people as having shared physical traits, like hair texture, colour or a shared historical experience. ethnicity to link cultural expression and a shared national or cultural identity, language or religious expression.
Use the capitalised versions of the words Black and White as this identifies that people are not an adjective. People aren’t black and white in colour.
Race and ethnicity have very different meanings – use:
- race to describe people as having shared physical traits, like hair texture, colour or a shared historical experience.
- ethnicity to link cultural expression and a shared national or cultural identity, language or religious expression.
Use the capitalised versions of the words Black and White as this identifies that people are not an adjective. People aren’t black and white in colour.
Use
- people from a Caribbean background
- people from a White British background
- Roma, Gypsy and Irish Travellers
- minority ethnic group or background
- students from a Chinese ethnic minority group
- people with a mixed ethnic background
- ethnic backgrounds
- capitals for countries.
Don’t use
- ‘the Blacks’ or ‘the Whites’
- White or White people as the neutral, norm or default
- mixed race
- ethnic communities (use groups or background)
- non-White
- BAME, BME or POC when you are in fact referring to a specific group (Caribbean, Pakistani, etc)
- capitals for the colours (rather than the ethnicities) black, white and brown
- images or language where ethnic minorities are shown only as victims
- the acronym BLM, as it can take the power out of the message. Spell out Black Lives Matter.
Religion or belief
Only refer to a person’s religion or belief when it’s relevant to the information you’re communicating.
Don’t assume religious or non-religious belief based on place of birth or name.
Don’t assume religious or non-religious belief based on place of birth or name.
Use
- first name and last name
- use upper case letters for names of religions and religious groups
- groups of individuals from the same religion as a community eg members of the Muslim community or Jewish people
- a range of religious and nonreligious beliefs, or alternatives if the example is about particular beliefs.
Don’t use
- Christian name and surname – use first name and last name
- terms that group religious or non-religious people together like ‘the Muslims’ or ‘the Catholics’.
Sexual orientation
Use sexual orientation not sexual preference when talking about sexuality. Only mention sexual orientation where relevant.
Use the acronym LGBTQ+ – Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer (singular only as the plural has been used as a slur in the past) or questioning, and others.
Sexual orientation and gender identity are different. A person can be trans and straight, cis and bi, or various other combinations.
The way people describe their sexual orientation changes all the time.
Use the acronym LGBTQ+ – Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans, Queer (singular only as the plural has been used as a slur in the past) or questioning, and others.
Sexual orientation and gender identity are different. A person can be trans and straight, cis and bi, or various other combinations.
The way people describe their sexual orientation changes all the time.
Use
- sexual orientation
- lesbian, gay, bisexual people
- pansexual (a person sexually attracted to all genders)
- asexual (a person who does not experience sexual attraction)
- polysexual (a person sexually attracted to several genders)
- the language people use to describe themselves
Don’t use
- sexual preference
- lesbians, gays, bisexuals – referring to people as a group rather than individuals
- homosexual – this is more of a medical term now, use gay
- examples of just the traditional nuclear family eg mother and father with children. Use other examples like nuclear families with same-sex parents, shared parenting (with a gay male friend and sperm donor and lesbian couple), single-parent, blended and extended families.
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomic status is based on your social and economic status, and includes educational background, income and occupation.
Mirror the language of the people you’re talking to.
How you use terms depends on the context. Communicating to academics, you might use low or high socioeconomic status. In news stories, more emotive terms like poor or rich may be more appropriate.
Mirror the language of the people you’re talking to.
How you use terms depends on the context. Communicating to academics, you might use low or high socioeconomic status. In news stories, more emotive terms like poor or rich may be more appropriate.
Use
- low, middle or high socioeconomic status
- food security, not food insecurity which focuses on the deficit.
Don’t use
- poor
- impoverished
- working class, lower class, upper/middle class
- disadvantaged to solely reflect socioeconomic status.
- There are multiple factors outside of economics that can produce disadvantage eg special educational needs (SEN), illness, family circumstances etc.
Diverse representation
Use
- a range of gender specific, gender neutral and ethnically diverse names
- a range of geographical locations and socioeconomic backgrounds
- imagery and content that represents all people
a fair balance of specific, gender neutral and ethnically diverse names.
Don’t use
- only white European names or imagery
age-related stereotypes - traditional nuclear family stereotypes
- negative stereotypes
- men only as the lead protagonists in positions of power
- gender to a profession eg female scientist or male nurse. Use scientist or nurse.
