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.

As communication teachers attempting to bridge the gap between school and industry, we need to give students a true understanding of what it means to be a professional. We may be spending too much time trying to get them to write and speak like professionals without also imbuing them with sufficient understanding of their responsibilities to behave as professionals. Students need to be practiced in the communication and decision-making situations they will encounter in their workplaces. These decisions involve ethical reasoning as well as technical problem solving. Teaching students to appreciate the consequences of their recommendations, through the use of fault-trees and cost/benefit analyses in realistic simulations, effectively bridges the gap between the classroom and boardroom. A sample situation is explained and analyzed for its use in any technical communications class.