The highways sector is traditionally male-dominated but there’s some great work being done to encourage diversity and inclusion.
Highway Care’s Head of Communications and Marketing Hayley Terrell, a member of Women in Transport, has been reflecting on the contribution of the language we use to delivering diversity and inclusion (D&I) goals. In this article, Hayley discusses the importance of language in terms of D&I for both women and LGBTQ+ colleagues in our industry.
Earlier this year, the pubs and the pundits of Britain went into overdrive as they began the nervous wait to see whether England really would really bring football ‘home’ this time, or if the curse of the penalty shoot-out would shatter dreams once again.
I’m talking about the Euros, of course. Or to give the tournament its full name, the UEFA European Football Championship. But the conversation I want to start is not about VAR or who should or shouldn’t be on the bench; it’s about why we don’t call the tournament the Men’s Euros, when last year’s most talked about tournament was the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Sport is just one of the environments where gendered language is an impediment to diversity and inclusion. We may have come a long way in terms of enthusiasm and funding for women’s football teams, but they are still labelled with a prefix, while the men’s game is just called football.
The problem is that we all accept the status quo. The way we express ourselves has been defined by binary, male-oriented language for so long that we don’t even realise we’re limiting inclusion with the language we use.
It’s a topic that formed the basis of a talk at a recent Women in Transport event that I attended, which drew attention to common phrases such as ‘man hours’, ‘manning the stand’, and ‘the green man’ as terminology that inhibits gender inclusion.
Some of us make a conscious effort to introduce more gender neutrality into the way we talk, but it’s not always easy to do that. Often more gender-neutral phrases sound clunky and unnatural – perhaps because we are not used to them – and there is a resistance, amongst men and women alike, to using language that is ‘pc’ or ‘woke’. Change is difficult, and we’re facing centuries of the same patriarchal language that has inhibited gender diversity in our sector and others for years.
Let’s take an example – when we talk about ‘manned vs unmanned’ HVM solution, it would be an easy change to ‘Guarded vs unguarded’ or ‘supervised vs unsupervised’.
This issue is complex. Although gender neutrality is often the goal, particularly when it comes to the language we use in jobs ads and company policies, for example, it sometimes comes with a hidden trapdoor that leads us to fall into the patriarchal default. What do I mean by that? Consider how we used to differentiate between waiters and waitresses, or actors and actresses. In order to be more inclusive, many of us now use a single job title to cover the role and the person, rather than making them gender-specific. But when we do that, it’s invariably the male option that we default to, choosing actor or waiter, for example. In effect, therefore, de-gendering language can sometimes be an obstacle to inclusivity too. It has been said that prefixing to activities is the most inclusive approach, but we must do it consistently for both genders – ‘Men’s Euros’ and ‘Women’s Euros’ for example. What we need is not a hard and fast rule, but a genuine understanding of the issue and its knock-on effects on diversity and inclusion; how we use language matters and it’s as nuanced as the people we need to attract, recruit and retain.
It’s important to point out that the Euros was not the only thing happening this year. June was also Pride Month, which is not just an opportunity to celebrate diversity, but also a time to think about what we can be doing better to create more inclusive environments. Amongst the rainbows and sequins, Pride Month was a reminder that the LGBTQ+ community has had to fight hard to be treated with dignity and respect, both in the workplace, and in the language we use.
Allyship is vital in supporting fights within minority communities and I stand as an ally in the inclusion discussion, taking my own steps such as openly sharing my pronouns or politely raising areas of language that would be used more inclusively during conversations. There is more that we can all do, and we are not alone. If we come together, it will become a lot less daunting.
We often hear people talk about the minefield of saying the right thing and not tripping up with words that could offend. That’s right – it is difficult to navigate through language and workplace environments that are changing. But difficult isn’t an excuse for failing to try. The change that is happening is positive and enriching, both for individuals who are more conscious of the way they express themselves, and for workplaces that benefit from greater diversity and inclusion.
We all want to feel like we belong, to know our identity is respected, and to see that our contribution is recognised; the language we use is part of delivering those goals.
Image – Highway Care