Sex-Biased Language and the Technical-Writing Teacher's Responsibility

Dean G. Hall Kansas State University ; Bonnie A. Nelson Kansas State University

Abstract

Our survey of women who graduated in engineering from Kansas State Uni versity indicates that sexist language persists in the workplace, that women react to it in various ways, and that such language can engender sexist atti tudes which often have deleterious effects on the company and its employees. We believe technical-writing teachers have some of the responsibility to sensi tize students to exclusionary language. We show how that language violates professional ethical practices, demonstrate that some technical-writing texts trivialize the issue of sexist language, and suggest methods and resources for teachers to use in the classroom.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
1990-01-01
DOI
10.1177/105065199000400104
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