The Future of Education

The term EDIB (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging) represents a modern, enhanced evolution of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) framework. It has gained prominence over the last decade particularly in relation to inclusivity. The research aims to explore the potential benefits of students learning gender-inclusive language in English, French and Spanish. Gender-inclusive language movements have emerged across all three languages, introducing a variety of methods with differing levels of success. The use of inclusive language is already widespread on social media, particularly among younger generations, and has gradually begun to enter the academic sphere over the past decade. A broad scoping literature review was carried out to investigate both the direct and indirect effects of using gender-inclusive language in assessments and educational resources. ‘Direct effects’ refers to student comprehension and attainment, and ‘indirect effects’ refers to classroom behaviour. Two preliminary semi-structured interviews with French and Spanish speakers were undertaken in order to broaden the contextual understanding of gender-inclusive language in these languages. Fourteen peer-reviewed articles were included in the sample, a review matrix used for analysis to generate a thematic synthesis matrix identifying patterns and gaps in the research. The key findings of the research highlight that teachers and students value flexibility, with inclusive language best treated as an option rather than a rigid rule, it is important to provide Institutional support and guidance  to avoid penalising students for adopting inclusive forms in learning and assessment, and the benefits of moving away from the generic masculine were reported, however the evidence of direct effects on attainment is limited. Limitations of the research include a small and scattered research base, political and cultural resistance and lack of student attitudes in this area. More research to identify which gender-inclusive forms are most effective would benefit the development of evidence-based and culturally appropriate policies.