CBC News Online spoke to Prof.  Leanne Son Hing from the University of Guelph’s Department of Psychology about the importance of using gender-neutral language at work.

Son Hing, who studies inequalities in the workplace, says the way we communicate with each other matters more than we realize. The wrong wording can send cues to women that they don’t belong or are not wanted in male-dominated occupations or leadership positions.

Words like “ladies” or “girls” might seem harmless or polite, but they form what’s known as “benevolent sexism,” and impact perceptions about women’s competence, she said.

Son Hing’s research focuses on disparities between individuals and groups in workplaces in status and income. She examines both explicit and implicit prejudice and how they lead to discrimination during key workplace decisions such as hiring and promotion.

She is a senior fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research in the Successful Societies Program.