Halpin is a consultancy working primarily within the higher education (HE) sector – and this puts us in an exciting space. We’re able to continually learn with our clients in HE, picking up new and innovative ways of working and thinking. As a small organisation, we’re able to implement changes quickly and nimbly where we see fit.
An example of this in action is the formation of our People & Culture Group, which came together in late 2023. Since then, the group has been busy alongside our client work looking at how to better support our team, which leads to another example – the introduction of our internal guidance and resources around using pronouns.
Why do pronouns matter?
We all use pronouns, often without even thinking. They frame how we refer to individuals, groups (and sometimes objects). ‘I’, ‘they’, ‘she’, ‘we’, ‘he’ – there are many, and we unconsciously use them to help us understand the world around us.
However, it’s common to associate pronouns with gender – for example, ‘he’ often refers to someone we assume identifies as male, or if we see someone whose appearance is traditionally feminine, we might think of them as ‘her’.
This isn’t always the case for everyone. Some who are trans, non-binary and gender-nonconforming may use pronouns that affirm their identity, multiple pronouns, neopronouns or no pronouns at all.
Another way of looking at this is around names – sometimes, we may see a name and make a judgement of the identity of that person based solely on it, especially if it’s a name we’re not familiar with.
This is important, particularly for HE. As a sector, HE attracts many international students, some of whom have names we might not be familiar with. It typically attracts 18–21-year-old students, and in the UK 2021 census, those aged 16-24 were most likely to say “that their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth”.
Halpin and pronouns
As a compassionate organisation, respecting how people identify is important to us and it feeds into our work in HE to create better environments and worlds for all.
As a result of the work with our People & Culture Group, we now provide guidance for our team and seek to make the best use of the resources available to us. For example, there is an optional feature that can be turned on in Microsoft 365 profiles where individuals can select their pronouns to show up on their email and Teams accounts.
It’s important to note that, while respecting individuals and encouraging the use of pronouns personally, it’s not mandatory. If an individual is happy to share theirs and have conversations about usage, we’ll champion it, but if someone’s not ready to – that’s fine too.
How you can use them
Our intersection as a small organisation working with big institutions puts us in a unique position, so some of the things we’re doing might not work for everyone. We’ve added some tips below that are drawn from our guidance, and would encourage other SMEs and universities to consider what they can do to actively create more inclusive environments, a step at a time.
- When joining a meeting, drop your pronouns in with your introductions, e.g., “Hi everyone, I’m Jordan, my pronouns are he/him, and I’m the Director of Development”.
- Refer to others how they like to be referred to, even (and especially) when they’re not around.
- Use the tools at your disposal – add your pronouns to your email signature, Microsoft profiles, and LinkedIn account.
- Review organisational language for inclusivity. This doesn’t just have to be about pronouns! Establish working groups to review policies, templates, guidance and marketing materials for anything that’s not as inclusive as it could be.
- Create resources – some institutions have webpages about pronouns, internal guidance, training or other resources. Work out what’s best for your organisation and implement it.
- Work with your community – if your team or institution has experts through experience or interest in this area, engage them with your work and compensate for any time and effort involved.
- Tie in with other interventions if necessary – we’ve seen some institutions trial ‘about me’ cards for the start of modules which ask students to add their name, pronunciation, pronouns and useful info to share with others in introductory seminars or groups. Bringing pronouns into other processes, like registration, introductions with personal tutors or client admin normalises their use.
Halpin is the home of experts in HE and has a wealth of experience working with universities to improve equality, diversity and inclusion. Contact us to find out more about how Halpin can support you with your People & Culture of Governance & Policy work.