Sexism, ageism, ableism, racism
How to avoid replicating stereotypes through the words we use at the 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 handbook, produced by a multidisciplinary team, is part of a work promoted by the Committee for Equal Opportunities 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 the extensive reflection on these issues and by the main national and international best practices, the rules are intended to provide the basis for a review and revision of the University's communication habits, in line with the indications of the Gender Equality Plan.

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