To illustrate academic feedback that might be damaging rather than constructive, Margaret Gonzales, PhD, shared examples from college students’ papers with remarks like “this is a great start — for a third grader” and “don’t write like you speak — you want to sound smart.”

The latter example, she told participants at the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s Diversity Forum in January, was directed toward a first-generation college student.

“Today, ‘smart’ tends to get replaced with ‘professional,’ which is a very loaded and coded word that allows for discriminatory practices,” Dr. Gonzales said, adding that “writing instruction and writing rules and conventions are deeply rooted in racist and classist assumptions about intellectual ability and character.”

“This is really important, because there are a lot of larger barriers that diminish students’ sense of belonging and agency, but these little things also add up, similar to microaggressions.”

Dr. Gonzales, the academic writing advisor for RFU’s Nexus for Faculty Success, was joined by Nexus Director Susanna Calkins, PhD, in presenting “The Wording Matters: Fostering Belonging and Justice through Inclusive Language and Writing.” They highlighted the need to provide not only assessments but also course structures that are focused on inclusive language.

“In order to pursue justice in higher education in a meaningful way, we need to remove barriers to learning,” Dr. Gonzales said, “and some of those barriers appear in places that we least expect them to be, such as syllabi and assignments and the feedback that we give on writing.

“This is really important, because there are a lot of larger barriers that diminish students’ sense of belonging and agency, but these little things also add up, similar to microaggressions.”

Dr. Calkins also shared a 2019 American Psychological Association study stating that inclusive language is free of bias and avoids perpetuating prejudicial beliefs; is fact-based, non-judgmental and non-stigmatizing; mentions personal characteristics only when medically relevant; and uses the singular “they.”

“Inclusive teaching involves deliberately cultivating a learning environment where all students are treated equitably, have equal access to learning and feel valued and supported in their learning,” Dr. Calkins said, quoting from the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning & Teaching website. Drawing on the work of scholar K.M. Johnson, she added, “If students do not feel that they belong, if they don’t feel that they’re understood or accepted, they will leave — or at the very least they will not succeed.”

“We learn by talking with other people, challenging each other, questioning, listening. We don’t learn on our own.”

To avoid such outcomes, Dr. Calkins recommended “questioning yourself as an educator — how do my identities, background and positionality influence the choices I make in designing my course?” This self-interrogation extends to seeking feedback from peers and students, including any lived experiences that they’re comfortable sharing.

Dr. Calkins at the Elizabeth Shafernich Coulson Award for Innovation in Teaching and Learning Ideathon.

“We have to remember that learning is not a solo endeavor,” she added. “We learn by talking with other people, challenging each other, questioning, listening. We don’t learn on our own.”

There were also reflections on a presentation offered earlier in the forum by Melissa Chen, MD, on “Patient Centered Language” for the 21st Century. In one example, Dr. Chen noted that outdated medical practice would note ethnicity in the “one-liner” of a patient’s case, such as “25-year-old Black female presents to the ED for abdominal pain.” Revised approaches would simply note “25-year-old woman,” with any pertinent ethnicity noted in a separate social history.

“Language is constantly evolving and changing with the larger social context,” Dr. Calkins said, “and I think it’s just for us to sort of try to be vigilant and try to keep up the best we can on what is appropriate in this language.”