Guidelines on the Use of Gender-Sensitive Language at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (MdU 31/2022)
The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar attaches great importance to including and addressing all people, regardless of their sex or gender identity. As a modern and forward-looking institution that is aware of its social responsibility, it contributes to the equal treatment of people of all genders through the use of gender-appropriate language and aims to create a study and work environment that is free of discrimination and fit for the future.
In its meeting on 5 October 2022, the University Senate therefore adopted Guidelines on the Use of Gender-Sensitive Language at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (MdU 31/2022) with a large majority. The guidelines regulate the uniform use of gender-sensitive formulations in all publications of internal communication and external presentation of the university. This includes, for example, normative texts such as study and examination regulations, but also job advertisements and websites.
Advice and support:
Tina Meinhardt, the central Equal Opportunity Officer, and the staff of the Equal Opportunity Office are contact persons for the topic of gender-sensitive language.
The German-language glossary »Gendersensibel formulieren« (»Gender-sensitive formulations«) and the language guide »Sprache gemeinsam verändern« (»Changing language together«) published by the Equal Opportunity Office offer concrete examples and approaches for dealing with complex linguistic expressions and support students and staff at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in thinking about, including and addressing people of all genders in communication.
Note for students and teachers:
The Guidelines on the Use of Gender-Sensitive Language passed by the University Senate make it clear that gender-sensitive language cannot be established as a binding formal criterion for examination performance and may therefore neither be used to the advantage nor to the disadvantage of students in contexts governed by examination law (see MdU 31/2022, p. 240).
Further information
English Language Guide: »Changing Language Together«
The language guide »Changing Language Together. Guidelines for the Use of Gender-Inclusive Language« offers tips on the use of gender-sensitive language in the important scientific language English.
The English language guide »Changing Language Together« can be found here.
Please find the German guidelines for the use of gender-inclusive language here.
German Language Guide: »Sprache gemeinsam verändern«
Using gender-sensitive language is a simple but very effective way to be inclusive and express equal treatment for all people, regardless of gender. For tips on using gender-sensitive language, see the Equal Opportunity Office's German language guide, »Sprache gemeinsam verändern«.
You can find the German language guide »Sprache gemeinsam verändern« here.
German-Language Glossary: »Gendersensibel formulieren«
The German-language Glossary »Gendersensibel formulieren« (»Gender-Sensitive Language«) offers help with gender-sensitive language use in the university context. It is intended as a supplement to the German language guide »Sprache gemeinsam verändern« (»Changing Language Together«) by the Equal Opportunity Office and is intended to support students and employees of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar in thinking about, including, and addressing persons of all genders in communication.
The German-language glossary »Gendersensibel formulieren« can be found here.
A corresponding English-language glossary is currently being developed. In the meantime, you can find tips for using gender-sensitive language in English here.
German Language Guide: »Sag's doch GLEICH! — Gendersensible Sprache an Thüringer Hochschulen«
In July 2023, the Thüringer Kompetenznetzwerk Gleichstellung (TKG / Thuringian Competence Network for Gender Equality) published a completely revised new edition of the German language guide »Sag's doch GLEICH! — Gendersensible Sprache an Thüringer Hochschulen«.
The newly released second edition of the language guide provides impulses for the implementation of gender-sensitive language at Thuringia's universities, offers suggestions and tips on various formulation options and contains examples from everyday university life. The first edition of the language guide, published in 2015, was updated in the new edition with regard to currently used forms of gender-sensitive language and expanded to include further thematic aspects and helpful tips.
A print version of the language guide in pocket format is available at the Equal Opportunity Office (Amalienstr. 13). On the website of the Thüringer Kompetenznetzwerk Gleichstellung, you will find anaccessible PDF version of the language guide. There, you can also find a collection of recommended readings (publications, handouts and tools) on the topic of gender-sensitive language.
Legal Expertise on Gender-Equitable Official Language: »Use of the Gender Star or of Gender-Inclusive Formulations Increases the Constitutional Conformity of Administrative Actions«
In December 2021, the Humboldt University of Berlin published a »Legal expertise on the assessment of the legal effectiveness of administrative forms of action when using the gender star or gender-inclusive formulations« (»Rechtliche Expertise zur Einschätzung der Rechtswirksamkeit von Handlungsformen der Verwaltung bei Verwendung des Gendersterns oder von geschlechtsumfassenden Formulierungen«). In this legal expertise for the German context, Prof. Dr. Ulrike Lemke (Public Law and Gender Studies, Humboldt Law Clinic Fundamental and Human Rights) investigates the effects of the use of gender-sensitive language, in particular the gender star, on the legal effectiveness and the binding claim of administrative forms of action.
The result is, in short, that the use of gender-sensitive language cannot have any (negative) influence on the effectiveness or binding nature of administrative action, but rather increases its constitutional conformity.
Here you can find a summary of the reports's central findings.
bukof-Statement: »Doppelpunkt oder Sternchen?«
The Bundeskonferenz der Frauen- und Gleichstellungsbeauftragten an Hochschulen e.V. (bukof) has published a comprehensive statement on the topic »Colon or asterisk? On the question of barrier-free gender-sensitive [German] language.«
Here you can download the full statement (in German).
In their statement, bukof opposes the use of the colon and »strongly advocates the use of the gender asterisk, a linguistic device that is inclusive of all people« (bukof, June 2022, our translation). It cites, among other things, a 2021 study by the Überwachungsstelle des Bundes für Barrierefreiheit von Informationstechnik (Federal Monitoring Agency for Accessibility of Information Technology), which showed that the colon is no more inclusive than the asterisk in terms of reading barriers.
Online Tool »gend-o-mat«: An Approximation to the Use of Gender-Sensitive Language in German
»How does one use gender-sensitive language?« — The Equal Opportunity Office's »gend-o-mat« addresses this question. The online tool provides suggestions and offers an approach to gender-sensitive wording based on concrete examples from the German language.
Click here to access the Equal Opportunity Office's »gend-o-mat.«
For examples and explanations of gender-inclusive wording with gender star: see the German language guide »Sprache gemeinsam verändern« (»Changing Language Together«) or the glossary »Gender-sensibel Formulieren« (»Gender-Sensitive Language«) by the Equal Opportunity Office.