Vademecum to inclusive language

Sexism, ageism, ableism, racism
How to avoid replicating stereotypes through the words we use at university

As is well known, language is essential to social life, however, precisely because it performs such a fundamental function, it is also a powerful vehicle for stereotypes and prejudices.

The present vademecum, created by a multidisciplinary team, is part of a work promoted by the Equal Opportunities Committee of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

It explored, in particular, how the words we adopt every day can activate stereotypes related to gender, age, disability and ethnicity and intended to propose ways to avoid propagating them, with the hope that the university community can increasingly become an environment where people feel at ease, regardless of their characteristics, Origins, orientations.

Inspired by extensive reflection on these issues and by the main best practices at national and international level, the rules that are suggested are intended to provide the basis for a verification and revision of the University's communication habits, in line with the indications of the Gender Equality Plan. In any case, the indications of the Vademecum should not be understood in a prescriptive sense: ample room is left to individual initiative and sensitivity, provided that they are exercised in compliance with the values upheld by the University. 

Furthermore, having as the object of investigation a living and therefore changing subject such as linguistic expressions, the following notes are to be understood as suggestions and will be susceptible to variations, on the basis of the cultural changes to which language is constantly subjected.